Tensions in the Middle East have reached fever pitch after a joint US and Israel attack targeted Iran’s senior leadership, with Iran returning fire.
Here’s what you need to know:
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US President Donald Trump said he believes unconfirmed reports that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed are a “correct story”. Satellite images showed the destruction of Khamenei’s compound.
- A large-scale daylight hours attack on Iran from the US and Israel has killed key figures in the senior leadership, the Israeli Defence Force said.
- Iran is retaliating with strikes against Israel and neighbouring Gulf countries including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.
- More than 200 people have been killed across Iran by the US-Israel strikes, including 85 people in a strike on a girls’ school in the southern town of Minab, Iran’s state TV reported.
Read more on the US-Israel-Iran conflict:
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead, US President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. 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 said.
“He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.”
Trump described the moment as the greatest chance for the Iranian people to “take back their country”.
He vowed that even with Khamenei’s death the heavy bombing will continue, uninterrupted, throughout the week or “as long as necessary” to achieve peace in the Middle East.
Missile attacks from Iran have struck Tel Aviv, destroying buildings and injuring Israelis.
The Israeli military said in a statement that soldiers were deployed to several sites. Rocket shrapnel had seriously injured a man in Tel Aviv.
Israeli emergency services said 90 patients were treated, mostly with mild injuries. No one has been killed.
with AP.
Tensions in the Middle East have reached fever pitch after a joint US and Israel attack targeted Iran’s senior leadership, with Iran returning fire.
Here’s what you need to know:
-
US President Donald Trump said he believes unconfirmed reports that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed are a “correct story”. Satellite images showed the destruction of Khamenei’s compound.
- A large-scale daylight hours attack on Iran from the US and Israel has killed key figures in the senior leadership, the Israeli Defence Force said.
- Iran is retaliating with strikes against Israel and neighbouring Gulf countries including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.
- More than 200 people have been killed across Iran by the US-Israel strikes, including 85 people in a strike on a girls’ school in the southern town of Minab, Iran’s state TV reported.
Read more on the US-Israel-Iran conflict:
Prior to reports of Khamenei’s death from Israeli officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said there were many signs indicating the Supreme Leader was “no longer”, and implored Iranians to finish the job.
He confirmed Khamenei’s compound had been destroyed and that those killed in strikes included Iranian Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour.
At the same time, Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry, had told America’s ABC News that Khamenei and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian were “safe and sound”“. He added that Iran’s system was “working” and “is not a one-man ruler”.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has stopped short of official confirmation, instead telling NBC News “we feel that is a correct story”.
with AP, Reuters
US President Donald Trump has told NBC in response to reports of the supreme leader’s death “we feel that is a correct story”.
In a phone call to Meet the Press host Kristen Welker, Trump said “most” of Iran’s decision makers are gone.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of people beyond, and we feel certain, we feel, we feel that that is a correct story,” he said.
“We’ve inflicted tremendous damage. It would take them years to rebuild.”
The Israeli Defence Force has announced the deaths of several senior Iranian officials, including the defence minister and senior military commanders.
Among the seven figures identified by the IDF were defence minister Aziz Nasizadeh, the head of the revolutionary Guards Corps Mohammad Pakpour and a personal advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Shamkhani.
The statement did not mention the fate of Khamenei himself.
The body of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been found, according to a senior Israeli official.
Khamenei, who has ben the ruler of Iran since 1989, was 86.
His compound was struck heavily in a large aerial assault launched by the US and Israel on Saturday, with satellite images showing a large cloud of black smoke and damage to buildings.
Reuters
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, a senior Israeli official has told Reuters.
Israel has closed all crossings into Gaza until further notice for “security adjustments”, halting the entry of new humanitarian aid workers into the region.
That includes the critical Rafah crossing from Egypt to Gaza, which only partially reopened to a restricted number of Palestinians on foot earlier this month. Reopening the crossing was one of the requirements under the US backed ceasefire agreement of last year.
Israel claims that despite the closure of the region’s key access to international aid that existing food stocks are “four times the nutritional needs of the population”.
In his address last night, Trump repeated the claim that Iran is developing long-range missiles that could “soon reach the American homeland”.
It’s a claim he made during the State of the Union, and several other times during the past week.
But US intelligence sources say there is no evidence to back this up, and also harbour doubts over Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
An unclassified 2025 US Defence Intelligence Agency assessment found that Iran would need until at least 2035 to develop the kinds of missiles Trump is referring to. Widespread reporting overnight says that assessment has not changed.
As for its nuclear capabilities, The New York Times reports Iran has built no new facilities since they were “obliterated”— another Trump claim many have disputed — in June.
with Reuters
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
