Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the United States with President Donald Trump calling it the “greatest chance” for the Iranian people to “take back” their country.
Iranian state media announced the 86-year-old’s death early Sunday. The announcement came after a joint U.S. and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” was to continue through the week or as long as necessary.
The strikes opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention in Iran, marking the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has attacked the country during talks over its nuclear program. The reported killing of Khameini after decades in power appeared certain to create a significant leadership vacuum given the absence of a known successor and because the Supreme Leader had final say on all major policies.
Earlier, Iran had retaliated to the U.S. and Israeli attacks by launching missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region.
Here’s the latest:
Iranian state media announces Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, is dead, Iranian state media reported.
State television and the state-run IRNA news agency reported his death, without elaborating on a cause of death.
U.S. President Donald Trump had said he’d been killed in a joint American-Israeli operation targeting Iran.
Australia’s prime minister says he supports US actions
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he supports U.S. actions to prevent Iran threatening international peace and security.
“We support the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran continuing to threaten international peace and security,” Albanese posted on social media on Saturday.
Arab League says Arab-Israeli conflict has expanded into ‘full-scale regional war’
The Arab League said the Israeli-US airstrikes on Iran are “a moment when the Arab-Israeli conflict has expanded into a full-scale regional war.”
Maged Abdelaziz, the 22-nation league’s U.N. observer, accused Israel of using the Iran war to evade ending its occupation of Palestinian territories and prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state – and to impose its “hegemony on the Middle East by using military means.”
Despite the announcement of some progress in U.S.-Iranian talks in Geneva two days ago, he told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council Saturday that Israel launched “a wanton military attack” claiming it “was intended to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”
“At the same time, Israel itself refuses to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” he said., and it refuses to subject its nuclear facilities to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s nuclear safeguards regime.
International Atomic Energy Agency to hold special session on Monday
The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency will convene a special session at its headquarters in Vienna on Monday morning following a request from the Russian Federation, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a press release.
In a diplomatic note dated Feb. 28 and seen by the Associated Press, Russia’s Permanent Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna requested the convening of the special session “on matters related to military strikes of the United States and Israel against the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran that started in the morning of 28 February 2026, preceded by repeated open threats of such action, including against nuclear facilities under the IAEA safeguards.”
The special session of the Board of Governors will take place before the already scheduled regular session of the Board on Monday, the IAEA said.
Iranian, US ambassador have tense back-and-forth in UN Security Council session
In a rare and colorful exchange, the representatives of the United States and Iran exchanged warnings and direct rebuffs toward the end of the emergency session on Iran as military aggression between their countries risked spilling into a regional war.
After U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz responded to Iranian claims that America had violated international law, Tehran’s diplomat to the U.N. asked to speak again to issue a warning: “I advise to the representative of the United States to be polite. It will be better for yourself and the country you represent.”
Waltz responded immediately, saying, “This representative sits here, in this body, representing a regime that has killed tens of thousands of its own people, and imprisoned many more, simply for wanting freedom from your entire tyranny.”
Israel says it acted against an `existential threat’
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told an emergency meeting of the Security Council that Iranian chants of “Death to Israel, Death to America” and the burning of both countries’ flags were acts of “state-sanctioned hatred” and preparation for action.
“But today, alongside our ally the United States, we acted to stop … an existential threat before it became irreversible,” he said, stressing that Israel didn’t act on impulse or for aggression. “We acted out of necessity,” he said.
Danon said “diplomacy was exhausted.”
Addressing the Iranian people, he said the operation is directed “at a regime that has silenced you” and Israel stands “with you.”
Syria condemns Iranian attacks on Gulf monarchies
Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it “strongly condemns the Iranian attacks that targeted the sovereignty and security” of Gulf monarchies hit by barrages of Iranian missiles.
Under Bashar Assad, Syria was among Iran’s closest regional allies and a staunch critic of Israel, yet the statement made no mention of the Israeli or U.S. strikes that began the day, reflecting the new government’s efforts to rebuild ties with regional economic heavyweights and the United States.
Iranian diplomat says hundreds of civilians killed or wounded
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iranian ambassador to the U.N., said hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured on the first day of the United States and Israel’s “unprovoked and premeditated aggression against Iran.”
“The aggression and atrocious crimes of the United States regime and the Israeli regime, and their deliberate and persistent targeting of civilian infrastructure, are ongoing,” he said during the emergency Security Council session. “This is not only an act of aggression; it is a war crime and a crime against humanity.”
Israel says woman in the Tel Aviv area died from Iranian missile attack
Israel’s rescue services, Magen David Adom, said Saturday night that a woman in the Tel Aviv area had died after being injured in an Iranian missile attack.
It was the first death announced in Israel since the exchange of missiles began Saturday morning. It came after a heavy barrage of Iranian missiles targeted central Israel, damaging buildings and setting fires.
The service did not immediately identify the woman or give more details on what happened.
Magen David Adom says it has so far treated at least 90 people lightly injured in Israel and one man who was seriously injured.
Iranian official says Israel and US will ‘regret their actions’
Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, said Saturday that Israel and America will “regret their actions.”
“The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international oppressors,” Larijani posted on X.
Rubio cancels planned visit to Israel next week after Iran attacks
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has canceled a planned trip to Israel early next week following US and Israeli military strikes on Iran.
The State Department said the trip that had been set for Monday and Tuesday was now off. There was no indication if it would be rescheduled.
“Due to current circumstances, Secretary Rubio will no longer travel to Israel on March 2,” said Dylan Johnson, the assistant Secretary of State for public affairs.
Dubai airport says 4 injured in ballistic missile attack
Dubai International Airport — the largest in the United Arab Emirates and one of the busiest in the world — said Saturday that four people were injured as the Emirates condemned what it called a “blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles.”
Strikes were also reported at other commercial airports in the region, including Kuwait International. Other airports closed and canceled flights.
Trump says bombing of Iran will continue through week or longer
U.S. President Donald Trump in his social media post said the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would not bring an end to the joint airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel.
“The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!” Trump said.
The president stresses that his hope was for the Iranian government to join with the opposition.
