Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that there were “many signs” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was dead, after Israel and the United States launched an attack of unprecedented scale against the country.
The strikes prompted Tehran to fire off a missile barrage that sent people running for cover in cities across the Middle East.
Iranian authorities urged residents to evacuate the capital, a city of 10 million, while the country’s Red Crescent society said that at least 201 people had been killed in the strikes and more than 700 wounded.
The Iranian judiciary said one strike that hit a school in the south killed 108 people, although AFP was unable to access the site to verify the toll or the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Meanwhile, the UAE reported one civilian dead and damage from missiles in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as blasts from Tehran’s retaliatory salvo and air defences intercepting it also echoed over Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, and Kuwait.
“This morning, in a powerful surprise strike, the compound of the tyrant Ali Khamenei was destroyed in the heart of Tehran… and there are many signs that this tyrant is no longer alive,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement.
Cheers could be heard on Tehran’s streets after reports of the death, according to witnesses.
Plumes of black smoke had been seen over Tehran’s Pasteur district, where Khamenei usually resides, with Israel’s Channel 12 network reporting that 30 bombs were dropped on the compound.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier told NBC News that Khamenei was alive “as far as I know”, adding that “all high-ranking officials are alive”.
Also asked about Khamenei’s health, foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei told the BBC he was “not in a situation to confirm anything”, but “the whole system, the whole nation is focused on defending (our) national integrity”.
In a sign that the fighting was far from over, Netanyahu said “thousands” of targets would be hit over the coming days, while Iran’s top security official vowed a fierce reprisal.
“This morning we eliminated senior figures in the ayatollahs’ regime — commanders in the Revolutionary Guards and senior officials in the nuclear programme –, and we will continue,” Netanyahu said.
Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said: “The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will teach an unforgettable lesson to the international oppressors.”
‘Barbaric’
Tehran residents had been going about their usual business when the strikes began. Security forces quickly flooded the streets, shops pulled down their shutters, and few pedestrians risked venturing out, an AFP journalist saw.
“I saw with my own eyes two Tomahawk missiles flying horizontally toward targets,” a Tehran office worker told AFP before communications and internet access were cut.
The Red Crescent said 24 of Iran’s 31 provinces were affected by the strikes.
Across Israel, city streets stood deserted as residents took cover in shelters while the blasts of intercepted Iranian missiles reverberated overhead. Emergency services reported two people injured.
