this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2026
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363
BREAKING NEWS - Israeli media reports Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, leader of Iran, was killed inside his bunker (www.maariv.co.il)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) by Luriana@sh.itjust.works to c/world@lemmy.world
103 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 !!!

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[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 7 points 2 hours ago

"one of the most evil people in history is dead" says the pedophile president.

[–] LittleBorat3@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Could they kill Putin inside his bunker? Would be nice 👍

[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 10 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

Good outcome, still illegal as fuck.

[–] BlackAura@lemmy.world 6 points 3 hours ago

The funny thing I've been reading / seeing is that the paralympics are still ongoing.

The Olympic truce says no one will start a war during the 7 days before the Olympics and for 7 days after the Paralympics finish.

The US and Israel should be banned by the IOC from competing at the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games (even though the host country is the US).

It won't happen though.

[–] AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

And of course the Trump administration/CIA already has his replacement lined up, and ready to install just like they did in Venezuela.

Who is Reza Pahlavi? A royal in exile, Iran's youngest pilot, and a potential successor after Khamenei's death

A good outcome would be if we could just get rid of all authoritarians instead of being offered this fucked up scale of "how evil is your authoritarian leader," based on raw number of protestors murdered, unfair elections, and unjustified detentions (so far).

Instead, we're supposed to be dumb enough to believe rank on this fucked up scale "justifies" another authoritarian overthrowing a regime with zero notice to their own government and completely ignoring rules of procedure, in the name of "freedom and democracy." Oh, and they do it in the same week we found out they're putting together an executive order to cancel our upcoming elections that could possibly take down their regime...

It's like having two families, each with their own mentally unstable and abusive parent, (plus your parent's dickhead boyfriend and all of his kids he's doing a shitty job of parenting). Your shitty parent gets in a fight with another shitty parent over who is the worse parent. Then your parent and their dickhead boyfriend, murder the other parent in front of you and all the other kids. Clearly, they have absolutely no intention of doing anything to actually help the kids of the parent they just murdered, and are planning to loot their pockets after murdering them.

But for some reason, we (as in all the kids that just witnessed exactly what happen) shouldn't worry about what comes next, because our "rockstar" parent has already arranged for "some guy" to take the kids in the other family, whether they like it or not. You know, because "democracy."

We're supposed to pretend from this day forward, that our collective memory of watching our insane narcissistic parent murdering somebody with their shady boyfriend Israel, after months of hearing them threaten to do it, is that our parent was the good guy who just did what needed to be done.

Because if we don't pretend they're a fucking hero, our insane authoritarian parent will give us something to cry about.

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 2 points 4 hours ago

When we have a president who isn't smart enough to consider politics and wants to "do something"

We are about to see how much might the USA's military industrial complex has. We are up to kidnapped and sniped in a bunker for country leaders.

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 hours ago

Pedo empire doing what it does.

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 18 points 11 hours ago

If only countries targeted only the politicians and avoided killing civillians.

[–] mrl1@jlai.lu 11 points 10 hours ago

Why is OP mentioning Rima Hassan though? French left has been criticizing every international interference illegal in regards to NATO directives.

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 27 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

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

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 1 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Do you think the Ayatollah was installed by the US?

[–] Railing5132@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

Our interventionist actions (to undermine a thriving, rather progressive country, in terms of the Middle East) directly led to Komeheni's rule and the imposition of shiara law.

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

Do you think that asking a simpleton gotcha question absent any further explication isn't a contrarian and socially erosive rhetorical tack which suggests in context that you'd implicitly support any mass murdering sovereign incursion by the US so long they've convinced you that their target is a bad dude?

Cause it sure comes across that way, even if that's not the case. And yes, I'm aware that their ayatollah was a revolutionary replacement of our shah.

[–] TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world 182 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (12 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.

[–] lechekaflan@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

they did it because it was what THEY want

  1. Oil. Iran is said to be producing the same amount as Iraq.
  2. Ensure that Yahoo would then expel all those are potential threats to his lebensraum plan. Yeah, Yahoo's Israel is what North Korea is for Russia: the mouse that roars.
  3. Make the Christofascist supporters happy as if this offensive action is "the mandate of God".

Now and infuriatingly Trump has achieved infamy as the worst generator of anxiety in history.

[–] lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com 17 points 14 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 20 points 16 hours ago

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

[–] sirscooter@lemmy.zip 41 points 19 hours ago (2 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.

[–] biofaust@lemmy.world 7 points 11 hours ago

Gas, mostly.

[–] in4apenny@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 15 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.

[–] Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 8 points 16 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.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 19 points 20 hours ago (4 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 31 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 18 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 18 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

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

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

For sure. It seems the thinking is the Iranian people might rise up and overthrow the regime. But that's just throwing a dice and hoping for the best. A month ago that could have happened, but the regime has already machine gunned down so many people and executed so many more, that is that going to happen now? A lot of things would have to line up for that kind of thing to work and it's impossible to make a movement among a population work like a military operation.

Something that seems to have gotten lost in this is the fact that Iran was enriching uranium. The Uranium Iran gets from Russia is already enriched by Russia to the level suitable to be used in their nuclear reactor. People seem to discount the Uranium enrichment as propaganda (because of the lies of W Bush) but this is science. They were enriching Uranium to 60%, if they continued you'd be in a situation where a country that calls the US "the Great Satan" and has officially said they want to "wipe Israel off the map" could have nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.

All things considered, it would have been best to have continued the agreement Obama made with Iran. The reports from IAEA indicated they were abiding by that agreement. But Trump cancelled that in his first term, which made this war all but inevitable. There is truth to the statement that we can't have a fundamentalist regime whose goal is to be an existential threat to other counties be in the possession of nuclear weapons. What Trump doesn't say is he cancelled the agreement that was preventing that before. Iran was unlikely to sign onto a new agreement (at least not in good faith) after Trump cancelled the old one and assassinated their top general. Trump did all of the acts of war in his first term, and only now is having the actual war.

Given the mess Trump created in hist first term, he painted himself into a corner and this war was the most likely outcome. So now there's nothing to do but wait and see what happens next. I hope for the best for the Iranian people even though it would be a big political win for Trump if it does work out.

[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 2 points 6 hours ago

Tbh, any nation that doesn't have nuclear weapons should be rushing to make them. after what we saw in Ukraine and well Iran this week.

Ultimately your country can be taken over whenever by whoever unless you have nuclear weapons. That's the way our world is now. Might = Right.

I hate it but it's where we are now

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[–] ieGod@lemmy.zip 16 points 15 hours ago

Can't wait until trump is eliminated.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 17 points 16 hours ago

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

[–] Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world 167 points 23 hours ago (3 children)

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

[–] NatakuNox@lemmy.world 61 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] forwhomthecattolls@sh.itjust.works 29 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

yeah this has never gone wrong ever

[–] NatakuNox@lemmy.world 26 points 18 hours ago

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

[–] But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

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

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 hours ago

How fantastic would it be if elites just assassinated each other.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 1 points 6 hours ago

Uh.... they tried that already?

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[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 49 points 20 hours ago (7 children)

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

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[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 94 points 23 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.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 52 points 22 hours ago (2 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

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 hours ago

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

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[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 36 points 21 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.

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[–] Luriana@sh.itjust.works 39 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 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.

[–] PlaidBaron@lemmy.world 59 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

"Lets hope this bloody war ends now."

Hahahahahahah. No chance.

[–] Doomsider@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

Hell no, we still got more ordinance that is expiring.

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[–] clot27@lemmy.zip 60 points 1 day ago (7 children)

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

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[–] piskertariot@lemmy.world 47 points 23 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.

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