The Israeli army issued a statement on Sunday confirming the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an accident “Meticulous and large-scale operation”. The statement said that Khamenei was in his central command compound with other senior officials in Tehran during the deadly strikes.“Ali Khamenei was targeted in a precise and large-scale operation carried out by the Israeli Air Force, guided by precise IDF intelligence, while he was in his central command compound in the heart of Tehran, where he was with other senior officials,” the Times of Israel reported, citing the army’s statement.The statement added that Khamenei “has been directly responsible for the violent repression of Iranian citizens for many years.”
The statement said: “Khamenei was the architect of the plan to destroy the State of Israel and was known as the ‘head of the Iranian octopus’, which extends its arms throughout the Middle East and to the borders of the State of Israel. At the forefront of them is the Hezbollah terrorist organization. The Supreme Leader of the Iranian regime was responsible for terrorist attacks against the State of Israel, and his hands were stained with the blood of many civilians from all over the world.”
Read also: The fall of Ayatollah Khamenei: How Iran’s supreme leader met his endThe military statement said that it “ended a decades-long chapter by eliminating the leader of the Iranian terror axis.”The statement said, “His exclusion joins a series of liquidations of prominent members of the terror axis carried out by the Israeli army during the war.”The 86-year-old has been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, and has vast power over the country. Revered by his supporters as a divine representative, he also served as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and had the final say on all major matters of state.The Iranian government confirmed on Sunday that the US-Israeli strikes led to the killing of Khamenei, shortly after US President Donald Trump announced his death. The official Iranian news agency (IRNA) later said that the country’s president, the head of the judiciary, and a jurist from the Guardian Council would oversee the transitional period, but did not clarify what would happen next.Read also: Khamenei was killed after a US-Israeli raid; Iran issues ‘unforgettable lesson’ warning – 10 things to know