The cleric who ordered the country’s bloodiest crackdown in decades may have seen his rule ended by a US-Israeli military strike
There was no immediate Iranian comment about him Saturday after US President Donald Trump said Khamenei was dead. Israeli officials also told reporters earlier that he was killed in a major new attack by US and Israeli forces.
The 86-year-old Khamenei tried to avert such strikes as the US built up its military presence in the region to pressure Tehran over its nuclear programme.
He warned that if the US struck, a regional war would ensue. At the same time, he allowed Iran to enter negotiations with the US over its nuclear programme.
Long before the supreme leader’s compound was among the first targets on Saturday, Khamenei was under growing pressure.
The suppression of the protests, with thousands of people killed amid chants of “Death to Khamenei”, was a sign of the threat that popular anger represented. Years of sanctions, economic mismanagement and corruption have gutted Iran’s economy.
