Kamal Ghorui
US President Donald Trump has announced that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead following a joint American and Israeli assault on key Iranian targets, declaring that “the heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue” until Washington achieves what he called lasting peace.In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS.”He added that the Iranian leader “was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.”Explosions were reported early Saturday in central Tehran, with Iranian media citing blasts near the Supreme Leader’s office compound. Smoke was seen rising across parts of the capital, roads were sealed off and airspace closed. While Reuters had earlier cited sources saying the 86-year-old cleric had been moved to a secure location, two Israeli officials later told the Associated Press that Khamenei had been killed. There was no immediate confirmation from Tehran.Trump described the moment as a turning point. “This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country,” he wrote, claiming elements of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and security forces were seeking immunity. Quoting his own remarks from the previous night, he warned: “Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!”He urged Iranian forces to “peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots” and said the country had been “very much destroyed and, even, obliterated” in a single day of strikes.“The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!” Trump wrote.The strikes form part of what the White House has described as a major operation to degrade Iran’s military capabilities and halt its nuclear ambitions. US military officials said Revolutionary Guard facilities, air defences, missile launch sites and airfields were targeted.Iran retaliated with missiles and drones aimed at Israel and at US installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Regional airspace closures left thousands of passengers stranded, and global markets braced for disruption, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for oil exports.If confirmed, Khamenei’s death would mark only the second leadership transition since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, opening an uncertain chapter for the Islamic Republic amid escalating regional conflict.
