Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the cleric who consolidated theocratic energy for greater than three many years and steered the Islamic Republic into confrontation with Israel and america, has died at 86, Iranian state media reported early Sunday.
File picture of Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei talking in Tehran. (REUTERS)
State tv and the official IRNA information company introduced his dying with out elaborating on the trigger.
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Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump mentioned Khamenei had been killed in a joint American-Israeli operation focusing on Iran.
Israeli and US forces launched main strikes Saturday towards army and nuclear-linked websites throughout the nation.
Khamenei’s dying comes at a second of extraordinary escalation, after months of mounting tensions and days of direct exchanges between Iran, Israel and america.
From Khomeini’s successor to the Islamic Republic’s longest-serving ruler
Khamenei took energy in 1989 following the dying of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the architect of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and put in clerical rule. The place Khomeini was a charismatic ideologue, Khamenei – then a comparatively low-ranking cleric – was seen as a quieter, extra bureaucratic determine tasked with turning revolutionary zeal right into a sturdy state.
He ended up ruling longer than Khomeini. Over 35 years, Khamenei expanded the clerical institution and reworked the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) into the spine of his authority. The Guard developed into Iran’s most elite army drive, controller of its ballistic missile arsenal and an unlimited enterprise empire spanning power, development, telecommunications and finance.
Via a community of appointed our bodies that might veto or override elected establishments, Khamenei grew to become the final word arbiter of political life. Arduous-liners described him as second solely to God in authority.
Crackdowns at residence, confrontation overseas
Khamenei’s rule was marked by persistent inside unrest and deepening exterior battle.
Waves of protests, from the reform motion of the late Nineteen Nineties to the disputed 2009 election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, challenged clerical rule. Safety forces repeatedly responded with drive. Financial grievances fueled additional unrest in 2017 and 2019, when a crackdown over gas worth protests killed tons of, based on activists.
Probably the most explosive demonstrations adopted the 2022 dying of Mahsa Amini, detained for allegedly violating Iran’s necessary headband guidelines. Protests towards social restrictions broadened into requires systemic change. Greater than 500 individuals had been killed and tens of hundreds arrested, rights teams mentioned.
In late 2025, new financial protests swelled into what seemed to be the most important problem but to the Islamic Republic, with tons of of hundreds chanting slogans instantly focusing on Khamenei. Safety forces launched a sweeping crackdown.
Overseas, Khamenei constructed what grew to become generally known as the “Axis of Resistance” — a community of allied militant teams and political actions designed to challenge Iranian affect. Iran backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, supported militias in Iraq and Syria, and aided Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The technique allowed Tehran to exert regional affect with out direct typical warfare.
However the regional wars ignited after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel shook that structure. Israel focused Iranian-backed teams throughout the area, and in 2024 the 2 international locations attacked one another instantly for the primary time. In 2025, Israeli and US strikes focused Iran’s nuclear program and senior army officers.
Nuclear ambitions and standoff with Washington
Khamenei remained deeply suspicious of Washington, steadily referring to america because the “Nice Devil.” Underneath his management, Iran superior its nuclear program whereas denying any intention to construct a bomb. He issued a non secular ruling declaring nuclear weapons un-Islamic, but insisted on Iran’s proper to complement uranium.
The 2015 nuclear deal curbed enrichment in change for sanctions reduction. However Trump withdrew the US from the settlement in 2018 throughout his first time period, reimposing sanctions. Iran subsequently exceeded the deal’s limits, enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade ranges.
Diplomatic efforts to revive the settlement faltered. Tensions escalated sharply after Trump returned to workplace in 2025. In June of that 12 months, Israel and the US bombed Iranian nuclear services. Oblique talks resumed, however no breakthrough adopted.
On Saturday, US and Israeli forces launched what American officers described as a large-scale operation towards Iranian army and nuclear-linked targets. Trump later mentioned Khamenei had been killed within the strikes. Iranian state media confirmed his dying hours later.
Succession questions loom
Khamenei’s dying raises rapid uncertainty about the way forward for the Islamic Republic.
Underneath Iran’s structure, the 88-member Meeting of Consultants selects the Supreme Chief. No clear successor has been publicly confirmed. A lot could depend upon the Revolutionary Guard, which has proven a readiness to make use of overwhelming drive to protect the system.
