Islamic Republic announces death of Ali Khamenei hours after claiming he was ‘safe and sound’

In the aftermath of his death, 40 days of public mourning have been declared across the country.

On Iranian state news channel IRINN, images of the late leader reciting the Qur’an were broadcast beneath a black banner.

The presenter read a statement from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirming the 86-year-old’s death.

Israel and the US were blamed, with the statement describing the Ayatollah’s “martyrdom” as the beginning of an “uprising against the oppressors”.

The Supreme National Security Council did not name a successor in its announcement.

According to Iranian state TV, he “was carrying out his assigned duties and was present at his workplace (his office)” at the time of his death.

“This cowardly attack occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning,” it said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards released a statement shortly afterwards confirming they were mourning the loss of the Supreme Leader.

It read: "We have lost a great leader and we are mourning him, a leader who was unique in in terms of purity of spirit, strength of faith, resourcefulness in affairs, courage in the face of the arrogant, and jihad in the path of God."

The elite military force vowed to unleash its "most intensive" attacks yet on Israel and the US imminently.

President Donald Trump had confirmed the Supreme Leader's death on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, saying: "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.

He added: "We are hearing that many of their IRGC, military, and other security and police forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for immunity from us."

The President went on to say that "heavy and pinpoint bombing" will continue in Iran will continue until "peace throughout the Middle East and, indeed, the world" is achieved.

Born in Mashhad in 1939 to a family of religious scholars with Azeri-Turkish heritage, Mr Khamenei developed early interests in poetry, literature and both Persian and Western music, including works by Tolstoy and Steinbeck.

He joined opposition movements against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, enduring multiple arrests and torture by the Savak secret police before surviving a 1981 assassination attempt that left one hand permanently disabled.

Mr Khamenei has positioned himself as leader of Shi'ite Muslims globally, justifying support for Hezbollah, Hamas and militias across Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

A Western intelligence report previously noted he had seen it as a "divine mission" to lead Iran against Israel and the West whilst preserving the regime at all costs.

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