LIMA, Peru – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, was killed during coordinated attacks between Israel and the United States this weekend, a senior Israeli official said. to Reuters.
Khamenei’s body would have been found after an attack on his residence, which would confirm his death. Israeli media, citing official sources, also declared the Iranian leader dead.
However, the Iranian agencies Tasnim and Mehr rejected this information and assured that the supreme leader remains “firm” and in command.
For his part, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that there are “signs” that Khamenei “ceased to exist” after the attack, although he did not present evidence.
Khamenei, 86, has held office since 1989 and exercises the highest political, military and religious authority. in the islamic republic.
Under the leadership of the ayatollah, criticized for his willingness to repress and violate human rights, Iran consolidated its regional influence and developed a nuclear program that has generated tensions with the United States and Israel.
Since coming to power, Ali Khamenei governed amid recurring internal tensions and with marked political hardening. During his mandate, a control model was consolidated that limited openness and marginalized reformist sectors in favor of less confrontation with the West.
The repression of protests became a frequent feature of the Iranian internal scenario, configuring a legacy associated with the strengthening of central power and an authoritarian structure.
A coordinated offensive
The United States and Israel launched a large-scale joint attack against Iran this Saturday, in an operation that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu justified as necessary to “eliminate the existential threat” that, he claimed, the Islamic Republic represents.
In a statementNetanyahu noted that the offensive, dubbed “The Lion’s Roar,” also seeks to “create the conditions” for the Iranian people to “change their destiny.” US President Donald Trump backed the same arguments.
During the first hours of the operation, explosions were recorded in Iranian territory, in Israel and in other countries in the Persian Gulf. Iranian media reported that an attack on a girls’ primary school in Minab, southern Iran, left at least 53 students dead.
From Washington, Trump affirmed that his Administration is carrying out a “massive and continuous” military campaign against Iran with the aim of preventing the country from threatening the United States and its national security interests.
In a video messagethe Republican leader assured that Washington seeks to destroy Iran’s missile capacity and accused Tehran of trying to rebuild its nuclear program after a US bombing in June.
The president maintained that Iran rejected diplomatic opportunities and defended the offensive as necessary to stop its “nuclear ambitions.”
