Iran has confirmed the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Iranian first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, in a message shared by the state media outlet IRNA, says, “Today, Islamic Iran is in mourning; but this mourning is not a mourning of passivity.”
It is understood that around 40 Iranian officials were killed in the Saturday airstrikes by Israel and the US.
Other senior figures in Iran, known to have been killed in the strikes, include Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi, commander of the Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Pakpour, Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law and grandchild were killed in the attack.
Aref says the US and Israel thought they could “shake the soul of a nation” by killing the country’s supreme leader.
The Islamic Revolution, Aref says, “becomes more alive and rooted through martyrdom,” adding that the strategy is protecting national stability and internal cohesion.
While some Iranians have been celebrating the news of Ali Khamenei’s death with others mourning, Iran has warned of “devastating” retaliation.
Strikes by Tehran have been reported across the Middle East, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warning that they will attack Israel and US military bases in a “devastating offensive operation.”
