Breaking....Conflicting reports emerge over alleged death of Iran’s Supreme Leader in US-Israel strikes

By Johnson Arua

Strong but unverified claims have surfaced suggesting that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, may have been killed in coordinated US-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran earlier on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump told NBC News that Washington believes Khamenei is dead. “We feel certain… we feel that is correct,” he said when asked about reports of the Iranian leader’s death.

Fox News also quoted a senior US official as saying American intelligence assessments indicate that Khamenei and between five and ten top Iranian officials were killed in an initial Israeli strike.

However, Iranian authorities have pushed back against the claims. Earlier statements from Tehran maintained that Khamenei was not in the capital at the time of the airstrikes and was safe.

Despite the official denial, the Supreme Leader has not appeared in public or released any video statements since the strikes began, fueling further speculation.

Iran International, a news outlet critical of the Iranian government, reported that at least four senior officials of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry were killed in the Saturday attacks.

Reuters separately reported that Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Khamenei, was killed in the strikes, along with several commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Two Israeli sources familiar with the matter were also quoted as confirming that Khamenei had been killed. One source reportedly claimed Israel had obtained a photograph of the late cleric’s body, while another indicated that an official announcement was being prepared. These claims have not been independently verified.

In a video message earlier in the evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “many signs” that Khamenei was “no longer with us,” without providing further details.

President Trump, according to Israel’s Channel 12, said Iran would need several years to recover from the joint strikes. In a phone conversation with a reporter from the network, he stated that the US could continue the campaign for as long as it deemed necessary or conclude it within days.

Trump also warned that Washington would strike again if Iran attempted to rebuild its military capabilities and accused Tehran of retreating from efforts to reach a nuclear agreement. He described his earlier conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu as positive.

Meanwhile, Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, vowed retaliation. In a post on X, he declared that Iran would make “the Zionist criminals and the vile Americans regret it,” adding that the Iranian military and people would deliver “an unforgettable lesson” to what he described as oppressors.

As of press time, there has been no official confirmation from Tehran regarding the fate of Ayatollah Khamenei, and the situation remains fluid amid rising regional tensions.