Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump have reportedly been shown a photograph of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s body following airstrikes in Tehran.
Two Israeli television networks said that a photograph of Ali Khamenei’s body had been shown to the US President and Israeli Prime Minister after the the Iranian leader’s body was recovered from the rubble of his compound.
‘A photo of the body was shown to Netanyahu and Trump,’ reported Channel 12.
‘Senior Israeli officials were informed of Khamenei’s elimination. His body was recovered from the rubble of his compound,’ reported public broadcaster Kan.
It comes after Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu has said ‘there are signs’ that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead.
The Prime Minister’s remarks in a televised address to Israelis on Saturday evening.
Netanyahu said airstrikes have destroyed the Supreme Leader’s compound, adding that ‘all indications show this tyrant is no longer with us.’
While not explicitly confirming Khamenei’s death, it comes after Iran’s Foreign Ministry said earlier this evening that the Supreme Leader and the country’s president were both alive and well.
‘They are all safe and sound,’ a spokesperson told Sky News.
Israeli media outlet Channel 12 said earlier today that unnamed Israeli sources had revealed there were ‘growing indications’ the leader had been killed during this morning’s air strikes or that he was ‘hurt at the very least’.
Officials had earlier reported that the strikes had caused ‘very significant harm’ to the leadership of the Iranian regime and its military commanders.
Khamenei has not been heard from since the US and Israel launched their dual attack on Iran on Saturday morning.
Israeli sources said today that President Donald Trump specifically targeted Iran’s supreme leader in its first wave of joint missile strikes with Israel.
Both Khamenei’s palace and compound in Tehran are reported to have been destroyed in today’s operation, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghch claimed the Ayatollah is alive ‘as far as I know’.
Video footage from Tehran shows smoke billowing into the sky above the compound this morning, which is understood to be used as his official residence in the Iranian capital.
Screams and giggles could be heard ringing out from a nearby rooftop as onlookers watched the blast. ‘Oh my God they hit it. They struck it. Oh my God,’ one woman shouts.
It comes after it was reported that the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and ‘architect’ of the regime’s brutal crackdown against protesters is already said to have been killed in the strikes.
Israeli sources said they believed that IRGC commander General Mohammad Pakpour has been eliminated, adding that several senior military officials are understood to have been killed.
Today, the US and Israel jointly launched a wave of strikes across Iran, including Tehran, Bushehr, Qom, Karaj, Kermanshah and Isfahan. In the capital, Khamenei’s palace, compound, the Ministry of Intelligence and Ministry of Defence were all affected.
Elsewhere, they nations hit southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and an area said to be housing Iran-supporting militia groups in al-Nasr, Iraq.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump told the Ayatollah to either ‘surrender or die’ as he announced the US had launched strikes across several cities in Iran.
He said: ‘To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity.
‘Or in the alternative, face certain death. So, lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death.’
Iran said there would be a ‘crushing response’ and launched missiles across Israel including in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem.
In a statement, the country’s military said that all US ‘bases, resources and assets’ are ‘legitimate targets’.
Dramatic footage showed the moment Iran hit US’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, with a huge mushroom of smoke billowing into the sky following an explosion.
Iran also targeted US infrastructure at Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and areas in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Explosions have been reported in Dubai, including at the five-star Fairmont The Palm Hotel, and Jordan has shot down two ballistic missiles.
Iran and Israel continue to exchange fire this afternoon, with multiple waves of strikes across the Middle East.
Countries across the world are appealing for calm and urgent de-escalation, with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer holding an emergency Cobra meeting in Downing Street today.
There is confusion over whether President Trump is expected to give an update on today’s operation – dubbed ‘Epic Fury’ by the Americans – later.
The 86-year-old Khamenei has been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 when he succeeded the Islamic Republic’s late founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Khamenei has had ultimate control over all branches of Iran’s government, the military and the judiciary.
He has also been the country’s spiritual leader for the decades he has been in control.
Khamenei’s dictatorship has been marked by his adversarial relationship with the West and in particular the United States.
His relationship with Trump’s administration rapidly deteriorated in recent weeks as American warships moved into the region, and the US president said he wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear programme.
Trump saw an opportunity to assert his influence while Iran has been consumed by dissent at home with nationwide protests.
Khamenei had hoped to avert a war but maintained his country has the right to enrich uranium.
He has long said Iran would never build a nuclear weapon and that the development of such technology was for civilian purposes only.
