Iran confirms Khamenei is dead, 40-day state mourning declared

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 and sworn enemy of the West, was killed in the opening salvo of a massive US and Israeli attack that extended into a second day Sunday, as the two powers seek to topple the Islamic republic.

Iranian state television confirmed Khamenei’s death early Sunday, hours after President Donald Trump announced the killing of the 86-year-old cleric he described as “one of the most evil people in History.”

Cheers could be heard on Tehran’s streets after reports first emerged from Israel of the death of Khamenei, as plumes of black smoke hovered over the district where he usually resides, witnesses told AFP.