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Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Anti-Western Supreme Leader, Dies at 86
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a state television broadcast in an image provided by the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran on June 18, 2025.Source: Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran/Getty Images
By Golnar Motevalli
March 1, 2026 at 5:46 AM GMT+8
Updated on
March 1, 2026 at 7:34 AM GMT+8
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran who ruled over the Islamic Republic for more than three decades as it faced off with the West, was killed Saturday after the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Tehran, according to President Donald Trump. He was 86.
“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,” Trump wrote in a social media post. Iranian officials have yet to confirm his death.
With Khamenei’s demise, a hugely consequential chapter in Iran’s modern history closes with little certainty over what comes next or who’s lined up to succeed him. If Iran’s state media announces his death, it will likely be followed by an official period of public mourning.
A senior member of the clergy Khamenei emerged from the religious, anti-imperialist movement that took control of the country’s 1979 revolution. With his white beard, clerical robes and black turban, he projected the image of an austere patriarch. An unsmiling figure, Khamenei never left Iran after taking office. He used his authority to suppress protests against his leadership and the Islamic system that he helped build. His unflinching response to the backlash against his views on women’s rights and civil liberties reinforced his reputation as a leader willing to kill hundreds of civilians to stay in power.