Iran officially announces the death of Ali Khamenei, his family and closest associates: Iranians’ reaction
Iranian state media reported the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a series of missile strikes by the United States and Israel. The government declared 40 days of mourning and a week of holidays in honor of his death. This was reported by Reuters, IRNA, and The Times of Israel.
The official Iranian authorities reported that Khamenei “accepted a martyr’s death” after an attack by the “Zionist regime and the United States.”
“This great scholar and mujahideen sacrificed his life to elevate Iran… and now he is in the great circle of martyrs in heaven,” Mehr reported.
On his TruthSocial page, Donald Trump called the Supreme Leader of Iran one of the “greatest villains in history” and stressed that his death is an act of justice not only for the Iranian people, but also for all those who suffered from the actions of Khamenei and his entourage.
As is known, Khamenei has led Iran since 1989. According to information, his closest associates were killed along with Khamenei. The dead include former Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Ground Forces Commander Mohammad Pakpour.
Reuters sources in Iran said that Khamenei met with Shamkhani and current Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijdani at a secret location on the eve of the airstrikes. US intelligence has determined that the meeting was originally scheduled for Saturday evening in Tehran, but Israeli intelligence has since determined that it was moved to the morning. This forced the US and Israel to accelerate the start of the operation to maintain the element of surprise and not allow the Iranian leader to escape the strike.
Iranian state media also stated that Khamenei’s daughter, granddaughter, daughter-in-law and son-in-law were killed in the joint Israeli-American attacks.
As reported by The New York Times, Bloomberg, millions of Iranians took to the streets to celebrate the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Despite state television broadcasting readings from the Quran and announcing nationwide mourning, the real picture on the streets is significantly different from the official one.
Social media was flooded with videos from Tehran and other major cities, where thousands of cars created traffic jams, constantly honking their horns in a sign of joy. The released footage showed crowds of people dancing, singing and setting off fireworks, celebrating the end of Khamenei’s 37-year rule.
