TEHRAN (Diya TV) — Iranian state media has now confirmed the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ending hours of uncertainty after Israel and the United States launched a wide-ranging strike campaign on Iranian targets. 

The confirmation follows earlier public claims from Israeli officials and U.S. President Donald Trump that Khamenei had been killed. Reuters reports Iranian state media said the 86-year-old leader died in the U.S.-Israeli attacks, with the first announcements coming early Sunday local time. 

Confirmed dead (Iran / Israel / U.S.):

  • Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Israel is publicly asserting that they have also killed “all senior” Iranian officials, including:

  • the IRGC commander
  • the defense minister
  • the head of Khamenei’s military bureau
  • the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council  

Separately, AP reporting also lists additional figures Israel says were killed, naming Ali Shamkhani, Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, Salah Asadi, and Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh among those claims. Iran and the U.S. had not confirmed those Israeli assertions at the time of AP’s update.

Iran has called the strikes illegal and says it has responded with missiles fired at Israel and at least seven other countries, including Gulf states that host U.S. bases. 

The escalation is already rippling through energy and travel markets. Reuters reports Iran warned the Strait of Hormuz had been closed, a development that traders expected would drive a sharp jump in oil prices, while airlines moved to cancel flights across parts of the region. 

With Khamenei’s death now confirmed by Tehran’s media apparatus, the next hours will likely hinge on three things:

  1. Succession signals from Iran’s power centers, and whether Tehran moves quickly to project continuity
  2. Verification or denial of Israel’s claimed expanded leadership kill list
  3. Retaliation, especially whether strikes broaden further across the Gulf and beyond  

Diya TV will continue updating this story as Iran issues further official detail about additional senior officials who were actually killed versus claimed.