Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that there are signs Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead.
Newsmax correspondent Zach Anders also reported that Khamenei was killed in joint Israeli-U.S. strikes Saturday morning.
Newsmax confirmed the Iranian leader's death.
In a televised address Saturday, Netanyahu said Israel eliminated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, senior regime officials and senior nuclear officials.
He added that in the coming days, "we will hit thousands of targets of the terror regime."
"There are growing indications that [Khamenei] is no longer [alive]," Netanyahu said, according to The Jerusalem Post. He did not provide additional details.
Israel's Channel 12 News reported that Netanyahu was shown an image of Khamenei's body after Iranian authorities recovered it from his compound in Tehran, according to The Times of Israel.
Israel carried out a massive strike on the compound in the opening salvo of attacks on Iran.
In an interview with NBC News, President Donald Trump addressed reports that Khamenei was killed in airstrikes, saying, "We feel that that is a correct story."
He added that "most" of Iran's senior leadership is "gone."
"The people that make all the decisions, most of them are gone," he said.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter updated American officials that Israel had succeeded in killing Khamenei, a source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel, confirming earlier reporting by Axios.
Netanyahu's comments came after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iranian military targets in what Israel has dubbed Operation Roaring Lion and the U.S. has called Operation Epic Fury.
Witnesses said loud cheers echoed across parts of Tehran and residents took to their windows to applaud and play celebratory music after reports of Khamenei's death, according to The Times of Israel.
The celebrations began shortly after 11 p.m., according to multiple witnesses and audio recordings.
Earlier Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei is still alive, "as far as I know."
Araghchi said two commanders had died but senior regime officials survived, including the head of the judiciary and the Parliament speaker.
"All high-ranking officials are alive," he said. "So everybody is now in its position, and we are handling this situation, and everything is fine."
Khamenei, 86, became Iran's highest authority in 1989 following the death of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Israel long viewed Khamenei as a destabilizing force in the Middle East, citing his backing of groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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