U.S. President Donald Trump declared Saturday that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, reinforcing early reports from Israeli officials that the cleric was killed in the opening strike of the joint U.S.–Israel military operation against Iran.
Trump also said he is hearing that many members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, military and other security and police forces no longer want to fight and are seeking immunity from the United States.
“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country,” Trump said on Truth social, urging rank-and-file Iranian forces to lay down their arms and consider ending their resistance.
Earlier Saturday, a senior Israeli official said Khamenei’s body had been found after the compound where he was staying in Tehran was destroyed in the first wave of Operation Roaring Lion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said in a televised address that the strike obliterated the compound and that “it is possible the tyrant is no longer with us,” though Iranian authorities have not confirmed the claim.
Trump’s remarks reflect a sharp escalation in U.S. rhetoric following the unprecedented joint offensive, which has drawn retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Iran toward Israel and U.S. forces in the region. He has framed the campaign as an opportunity for internal change in Iran, positioning the offensive not only in purely military terms but as a moment for Iranians to seize a chance at reshaping their country’s future.
First published: 21:38, 02.28.26