this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2026

254 points (93.5% liked)

World News

54247 readers

3184 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Rule 1: posts have the following requirements:
- Post news articles only
- Video links are NOT articles and will be removed.
- Title must match the article headline
- Not United States Internal News
- Recent (Past 30 Days)
- Screenshots/links to other social media sites (Twitter/X/Facebook/Youtube/reddit, etc.) are explicitly forbidden, as are link shorteners.
Rule 2: Do not copy the entire article into your post. The key points in 1-2 paragraphs is allowed (even encouraged!), but large segments of articles posted in the body will result in the post being removed. If you have to stop and think "Is this fair use?", it probably isn't. Archive links, especially the ones created on link submission, are absolutely allowed but those that avoid paywalls are not.
Rule 3: Opinions articles, or Articles based on misinformation/propaganda may be removed.
Rule 4: Posts or comments that are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, anti-religious, or ableist will be removed. “Ironic” prejudice is just prejudiced.
Posts and comments must abide by the lemmy.world terms of service UPDATED AS OF OCTOBER 19 2025
Rule 5: Keep it civil. It's OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It's NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

Rule 6: Memes, spam, other low effort posting, reposts, misinformation, advocating violence, off-topic, trolling, offensive, regarding the moderators or meta in content may be removed at any time.
Rule 7: We didn't USED to need a rule about how many posts one could make in a day, then someone posted NINETEEN articles in a single day. Not comments, FULL ARTICLES. If you're posting more than say, 10 or so, consider going outside and touching grass. We reserve the right to limit over-posting so a single user does not dominate the front page.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world

Recommendations

How to spot Misinformation and Propaganda

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

Consider including the article’s mediabiasfactcheck.com/ link

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

NewsAutoMod@lemmy.world

Tenthrow@lemmy.world

little_cow@lemmy.world

lemmyAtom@lemmy.world

jordanlund@lemmy.world

254

BREAKING NEWS - Israeli media reports Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, leader of Iran, was killed inside his bunker (www.maariv.co.il)

submitted 11 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) by Luriana@sh.itjust.works to c/world@lemmy.world

80 comments fedilink hide all child comments

This is a developing story. More to follow very soon.

EDIT 1

Supreme Ayatollah Khamenei was killed a few moments ago, a senior Israeli official told journalists off the record.

Footage of Khamenei’s body was allegedly presented to Prime Minister Netanyahu a few minutes ago. No official statement has been published.

EDIT 2

Videos in Farsi published on social media show some people cheering in Tehran from their apartments.

https://x.com/ManotoNews/status/2027835583146463736

These videos are not authentified. They could very well be true or AI.

EDIT 3

Headline of Maariv newspaper is now "Khamenei is killed"

"After decades of absolute rule, Israel confirms that the end of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has come"

EDIT 4

Reuters says Khamenei has been killed according to an Israeli official.

Iran DENIES the information and says Ayatollah Khamenei is fully in command.

https://www.reuters.com/world/iran-crisis-live-explosions-tehran-israel-announces-strike-2026-02-28/

EDIT 6

Some Iranian opposition accounts are celebrating.

Association of French-Iranian women says "YES, Finally"

https://x.com/femmeazadi/status/2027836456119443519

Iranian Sana Ebrahimi published video of herself dancing

https://x.com/__Injaneb96/status/2027841112610676910

EDIT 7

Politician Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Canadian Opposition, claims Ayatollah Khamenei is killed

https://x.com/PierrePoilievre/status/2027845628391526774

EDIT 8

I̶D̶F̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶f̶i̶r̶m̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶e̶a̶t̶h̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶K̶h̶a̶m̶e̶n̶e̶i̶

The IDF said several Iranian leaders are killed, including the Defense Minister and Ali Shamkhani, the closest advisor of the Ayatollah

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-confirms-killing-top-iranian-leaders-including-top-defense-official-ali-shamkhani/

EDIT 9

Iranian Researcher Khosrol Isfahani published videos of people honking in the streets on social media

https://x.com/KhosroIsfahani/status/2027839875500912833

EDIT 10

Donald Trump told NBC News that he feels reports about the death of Khamenei are correct.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-responds-reports-ayatollah-death-rcna261149

EDIT 11

Iran International, the largest Iranian political opposition network, says Ayatollah Khamenei have been killed according to their own sources.

https://x.com/IranIntl_En/status/2027846843061633455

https://www.iranintl.com/fa/liveblog/20260228-Iranwar

EDIT 12

A french far-left politician who was questioned by police about her support for Hamas-Hezbollah just published a burning american flag. She really mad.

EDIT 13

Farnaz Fassihi, an iranian-american journalist, says she spoke on the phone with her sources in Tehran

Many people are celebrating but she says the information is NOT confirmed.

🚨 New York Times claims Trump confirms

EDIT 14

Official statement from the White House.

IT'S OVER FOLKS !!!

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 7 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

OK now who are we installing next to come back and murder in 2050?

[–] lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com 3 points 2 hours ago

Celebration day for the exile Iran people living in my country... They were quite active during the last weeks and months.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 11 points 3 hours ago

Nice. Every time a dictator dies I celebrate - simple.

[–] ieGod@lemmy.zip 5 points 3 hours ago

Can't wait until trump is eliminated.

[–] TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world 130 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (11 children)

Anyone celebrating this, you HAVE to understand that the US and Israel did NOT do this because it was what the Iranian people wanted, they did it because it was what THEY want. Whether this will actually be good or bad for the Iranian people makes absolutely no difference to the US and Israel. They don't care about the Iranian people, they don't respect the Iranian people. This was a selfish act on the part of the US and Israel, not a selfless one.

[–] lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com 3 points 2 hours ago

I know that Trump did do this for himself.

On the other hand, the Mullah dictatorship murdered Thousand of protesters during the last months, so they can get fcked!!!

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 8 points 3 hours ago

Both can be true and the act does not need to be selfless to be good.

[–] Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago

I think this is obvious. We're talking about a geopolitical war here. All the parties are looking exclusively looking to advance their own interests. That being said, I think we can criticize Israel and the US for attacking Iran for the way that they did, but also celebrate the deaths of this evil bastard as well as stand with the Iranian people who want their country back.

[–] sirscooter@lemmy.zip 21 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I'm hoping the Iranian people can come out of this a better country. But you are totally correct in that the US did this for the oil not the people.

[–] in4apenny@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 3 hours ago

So long as the new governance is approved by Israel and The West. They better not try to democratically elect a leftist or socialist otherwise they're gonna get a Western backed dictator forced on them instead.

[–] raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world 8 points 6 hours ago

I can't believe there are people dumb enough that this needs to be pointed out, but yes, a thousand times yes. Upvote for visibility.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 12 points 7 hours ago (3 children)

Khamenei was a monster. It doesn't matter how or why he's dead. Good riddance, may he burn in hell for an eternity.

It doesn't matter whether a monster is killed by someone with noble intentions or a monster is killed by another monster. Either way there's one less monster in the world.

[–] TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world 18 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

It doesn't matter whether a monster is killed by someone with noble intentions or a monster is killed by another monster.

It does matter. It matters. And it's so, so important that people understand that it matters. This attitude of, "the ends justify the means," is very dangerous. The Iranian nation has had their autonomy taken away from them, first by Khamenei and now by the US and Israel. They are powerless, subject to the whims of people more powerful than them. They don't make their own decisions about their own nation, the decisions are made for them by people who have enough guns and strongmen to impose their will on them.

Edit: think of it like this: let's say you're living down the street from a family with an abusive father. The guy is just cruel to his wife and kids. So one day you decide to take matters into your own hands and you go and shoot the dad dead. That's good, right? The cruel, abusive father is dead, so it's good and justified, right? But you didn't ask the wife or the kids if they wanted their father to be killed. You didn't care what they wanted, because you didn't do it for them. You did it for you. You did it because it was what YOU wanted. And if they get mad at you for it, you say oh they're just ingrates. They don't appreciate what I did for THEM. But, it wasn't for them. It was never for them. It was for you.

Edit 2: so what would the alternative be? What could we do to stop this cruel father that doesn't require us to take matters into our own hands? Law. We need the rule of law. What would any reasonable person in a modern society do in this situation? They'd call the police. That's what we need: the rule of law. Not countries deciding unilaterally who lives and who dies, but laws. Laws that apply to all of us, equally.

[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 10 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

I'm glad he's dead, but the fear is that this creates an even worse situation.

Attempts to remove a dictator by force are usually not possible without a lengthy occupation. There's no new government or leaders ready to form a new government that is better for the Iranian people. An occupation is also unlikely to have good results. This isn't reforming Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan, this is something else entirely. I would expect the people of Iran to not respond well to aggressors occupying their country. This is at best Afghanistan 2, but likely worse

[–] phx@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

We don't need to mourn the monster killed by monsters, but we SHOULD remember that even in this short time many innocents have also been killed in the process.

[–] Danitos@reddthat.com 8 points 7 hours ago

The same thing with people cheering on Maduro's capture. People don't care this is not a selfless act, they simply hope things finally start to get better.

[–] belastend@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 7 hours ago

I fully understand this, yet I am happy about Khamenei getting blown to bits. Now we just have to do the same thing to Trump and Bibi ^^

load more comments (3 replies)

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 7 hours ago (5 children)

Say goodbye to a few trillion $ and any hope of a future for a few generations

[–] Siegfried@lemmy.world 4 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

That thing on the back has some serious MW2/3 MP vibes

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 2 points 6 hours ago

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Boundaries shift, new players step in; but power always finds a place to rest its head.

load more comments (4 replies)

[–] breakfastmtn@piefed.ca 10 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Iran confirms:

Iranian state media announced early on Sunday that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed. “To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return,” the news agency said. He died after U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran on Saturday.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/28/world/iran-strikes-trump/02e753fe-8b30-5272-b383-56b1659d6491

Edit: Also a whole bunch of his family.

The deaths of the daughter, son-in-law and grandson of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, were confirmed, according to Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency on Sunday morning in Iran. One of his daughters-in-law was also killed, the news agency said.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/28/world/iran-strikes-trump/18b01a1c-c503-57bf-9436-38ffeaa15889

[–] Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world 141 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

No love for this dude, but this won't end here.

[–] But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Hopefully there’s a focused retaliation against trump and his family/holdings personally. Take him and his spawn out, do the world a favour.

[–] NatakuNox@lemmy.world 45 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Not like we've been here before. Surly there won't be blowback from this.

[–] forwhomthecattolls@sh.itjust.works 20 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

yeah this has never gone wrong ever

[–] NatakuNox@lemmy.world 15 points 6 hours ago

We just killed the dude that killed the dude we put in power after killing a fourth dude. Fucking circus of circles.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 77 points 10 hours ago

I'm glad he's dead, I'm sad how it happened. Foreign bombs against a religious and political leader don't make for a stable transition of power, they result in decades of war between rebels in the mountains and whoever controls the cities.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 29 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I'm sure there will be a quick and peaceful transfer of power to a completely democratic leadership and no civilian casualties whatsoever.

[–] Ulvain@sh.itjust.works 14 points 8 hours ago

..." And the daydreaming ends. And you realize with your dick in your hand that you're in the bottom of an empty well.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 34 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

"The bombings will continue until peace is achieved" is one of the craziest things I've ever heard Trump say, and that is saying a lot

[–] LumberjackRanger@leminal.space 7 points 7 hours ago

"I'm going going to keep punching you until you stop saying ouch."

[–] Luriana@sh.itjust.works 33 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (2 children)

Personal opinion

He was instrumental in helping Bachar El Assad massacre Syrians after the 2011 Arab Spring. The Iranian military saved Bachar by slaughtering countless

He was the daddy of Hezbollah. Hezbollah assasinated countless Lebanese politicians who spoke out against the group. Khamenei urged Hezbollah to trigger two major wars against Israel (2006, 2023). The overwhelming majority of Lebanese DID NOT want these wars. The response was absolutely devastating for ordinary lebanese. Khamenei was laughing from Tehran while Lebanese paid the price.

He was an enemy of the Ukrainian people. At the beginning of the Ukraine invasion, he gave thousands of drones to Vladimir Poutine. Drones are used to bomb Ukrainian cities

And perhaps the most sadly, he was an enemy of the Iranian people. His men slaughtered countless Iranian protesters. As for the survivors, they were tortured and raped.

https://theconversation.com/how-irans-government-has-weaponized-sexual-violence-against-women-who-dare-to-resist-253791

https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/7480/2023/en/

That dude was just evil. If anyone had it coming, it was him.

Let's hope that this bloody war ends now.

[–] Aqarius@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Hezbollah

I... think you're mixing him up with the other guy. Hesbollah have been around since before he was in charge.

[–] PlaidBaron@lemmy.world 52 points 9 hours ago

"Lets hope this bloody war ends now."

Hahahahahahah. No chance.

[–] piskertariot@lemmy.world 39 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Including a statement from Pierre Poilievre means that the news doesn't matter.

If you're going to include the opinions of people who can't even win their own seat from countries who are across an ocean from Iran, there are plenty of others who are relevant.

[–] rozodru@piefed.world 29 points 9 hours ago

the fuck is PP giving statements for? fucker still doesn't have security clearance. He's got about as much knowledge on what's really going on as I do.

[–] clot27@lemmy.zip 50 points 11 hours ago (7 children)

If this is true it would make IRGC even more united and furious I hope they kill netanyahu in retaliation

[–] PunnyName@lemmy.world 43 points 11 hours ago

And Fascist 47 while we're at it.

load more comments (6 replies)

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 40 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (5 children)

Given the viciousness and the firepower both US and Israel can bring to bare, it's very possible they killed him.

Also possible they're just announcing this to further domestic unrest. If Khamenei doesn't stick his head out to announce he's alive, it will be that much easier to flip generals or city leaders who think they'll need to surrender in order to survive.

Videos in Farsi published on social media show some people cheering in Tehran

"We'll be greeted as liberators"

No shortage of people in Iran who hate the Ayatollah. But it's unlikely you'll find folks under active bombardment feeling in the mood to cheer at any news.

load more comments (5 replies)

[–] empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 10 hours ago

Won't believe until corroborated by both sides.

load more comments