CONFLICTING REPORTS EMERGE AS TRUMP ANNOUNCES DEATH OF IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER KHAMENEI

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Agency report

United States President Donald Trump has claimed that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead following joint Israeli-US attacks on Iran.

In a post shared on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated that the 86-year-old leader was killed during coordinated US-Israeli strikes that began early Saturday.

“He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do,” the US president wrote.

“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country,” he said. “Hopefully, the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots.”

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “growing signs” suggesting Khamenei had been killed.

Reuters, citing an unnamed senior Israeli official, also reported that Khamenei’s body had been located.

However, Iranian news agencies Tasnim and Mehr countered the claims, reporting that Khamenei remained “steadfast and firm in commanding the field”.

In an apparent response, the head of public relations at Khamenei’s office accused Iran’s adversaries of engaging in “mental warfare”.

“The enemy is resorting to mental warfare; all should be aware,” the official was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent Tohid Asadi noted that there has been no official confirmation from Iranian authorities regarding Khamenei’s alleged death.

He added that Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier told NBC News that, “as far as I know”, the supreme leader and other senior officials were in good health.

According to Iranian media reports citing the Red Crescent, Saturday’s strikes targeted 24 provinces and killed at least 201 people.

Iran subsequently launched counterattacks aimed at Israel and US military assets across the Middle East.

In a separate address, Netanyahu said many “senior figures” had been “eliminated” during the operations targeting top leadership, while Trump called for the Iranian government to be overthrown.

Israel, he said, had killed “commanders in the Revolutionary Guard and senior officials in the nuclear programme. And we will continue.”