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KontraInfo
February 28th,2026
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed Saturday morning in a joint US-Israeli attack on the country, according to Islamic Republic state media.
"At the time of the assassination, he [Ayatollah Khamenei] was carrying out his duties at his workplace (his office), and this cowardly attack occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning," the statement quoted by local media read.
The Iranian government has declared 40 days of national mourning for the death of its supreme leader.
Just hours before the official confirmation of his death, US President Donald Trump had already announced Khamenei's passing.
The president wrote on Truth Social that Khamenei "could not evade" the Pentagon's sophisticated intelligence and tracking systems and that, "thanks to close cooperation with Israel, neither he nor the other leaders who were killed alongside him could do anything about it."
Less than 10 minutes before Trump's post, an image appeared on Khamenei's official Twitter account depicting a Muslim warrior descending from the sky with a blazing sword in his hand and fire falling from it. "In the name of the noble Ali, peace be upon him," the caption read.
In a statement, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) expressed its condolences for the martyrdom of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, during the month of Ramadan "at the hands of the most evil terrorists and executioners of humanity," and indicated that his martyrdom by these terrorists "is a sign of the legitimacy of this great Leader and the acceptance of his sincere service."
“Martyrdom on the path of Islam and a great Iran is a sign of victory and of drawing closer to the goal; but with the martyrdom and ascension to Allah of Imam Khamenei (may God be pleased with him), his path and his character will not be halted and will continue with power and glory,” he added.
Ali Khamenei was born on July 17, 1939, in the city of Mashhad and dedicated himself to Islamic studies from childhood. He attended religious seminaries in his hometown, a center of great religious importance for Shiism, and later made a pilgrimage to the Iraqi city of Najaf, where he continued his studies for several months. However, he soon returned to Iran at his father's insistence. Between 1958 and 1964, he studied jurisprudence and philosophy in the city of Qom.
In 1962, Khamenei joined the opposition movement against the government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and became a key figure in the Iranian Revolution. As a result of his anti-government activities, he was arrested several times.
On the eve of Shah Pahlavi's overthrow, he joined the Council of the Islamic Revolution, which became an alternative power center to the government and later contributed to the creation of the Islamic Republic Party.
After the triumph of the Iranian Revolution, he oversaw the formation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of the Armed Forces tasked with protecting the political system of the Islamic Republic and preventing foreign interference and coups. Khamenei commanded the IRGC from December 1979 to February 1980, while simultaneously serving as Deputy Minister of Defense.
In 1980, following the start of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), Khamenei was appointed as the representative of then-Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to the Supreme Defense Council, responsible for formulating defense and security policies.
Iran's new political leadership faced opposition from the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMO), a radical left-wing group whose objective was to overthrow the Islamic Republic. On June 27, 1981, the group carried out an assassination attempt against Khamenei by planting a bomb disguised as a cassette recorder in a Tehran mosque. The device exploded while he was giving a speech. The blast left Khamenei permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
In 1981, following the assassination of President Mohammad Ali Rajai by the People's Mujahedin of Iran, Ali Khamenei, supported by the Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian clergy, ran in the snap presidential elections.
Initially, Ayatollah Khomeini believed the president should be a person with a secular education, but due to Khamenei's immense popularity and the country's difficult internal political situation, he ultimately approved the candidacy.
After winning over 95% of the vote, Ali Khamenei became the first member of the clergy to hold the presidency. In 1985, he was re-elected for a second term with over 85% of the vote.
Under Khamenei's presidency, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps evolved from a popular militia into an elite guard, earning the leader the respect of the military and allowing him to consolidate his power in the country.
Khamenei served as president until 1989.
Years earlier, amid Ayatollah Khomeini's declining health, the question of his succession arose, and Ali Khamenei was considered a suitable candidate for the role. However, there was an obstacle.
According to the Constitution in force at the time, only individuals with the title of ayatollah could become the supreme leader of Iran, and Khamenei then held the title of Hoyatoleslam, a rank lower than ayatollah.
Under these circumstances, Khomeini initiated a process to amend the constitution, allowing anyone with expertise in Islamic law and management skills to become supreme leader.
When Khomeini died in 1989, Khamenei was appointed the new Supreme Leader of Iran.
In his new role, Ali Khamenei organized a referendum that granted him greater control over the military, parliament, and government, as well as the judicial system and the country's media.
Iran's Supreme Leader gained a reputation as a conservative due to his anti-American and anti-Israeli stances. He stated that the United States "represents a threat to world peace and security," repeatedly calling for the elimination of Israel as a state.
During his leadership, the so-called Axis of Resistance, spearheaded by Tehran, began to form in the Middle East to combat the influence of Israel and the United States in the region.
Despite his hardline stance toward Israel and the United States, his key characteristics are often described as his ability to make concessions and a "heroic flexibility" to achieve his objectives and ensure Iran's survival.
These characteristics were especially evident when he accepted the 1988 ceasefire in the war against Iraq after eight years of fighting, as well as when he approved the nuclear agreement signed in 2015, which resulted in the easing of sanctions against the Persian nation, and when he agreed to resume talks on a new nuclear pact that took place in the spring of this year.
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