The Iranian government on the 1st (local time) officially confirmed the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Khamenei, 86. Ayatollah Khamenei stood at the pinnacle of the theocracy for the past 37 years and ruled Iran with an iron fist.
That day, as it announced Ayatollah Khamenei's death, the Iranian government declared a 40-day nationwide mourning period and a one-week public holiday.
Iranian state broadcaster Press TV and state news agency IRNA also reported that day, "Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, was martyred by U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran."
An anchor on Iranian state television delivered the news of Ayatollah Khamenei's death in tears.
The exact time of death is unknown, but it appears to have occurred the previous day in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. U.S. outlets released satellite images showing that the secure area in northern Tehran where Ayatollah Khamenei primarily resided was destroyed by the strikes.
Local media said the person died in the Tehran office. Mehr News Agency reported, "At the moment of martyrdom, Ayatollah Khamenei was guarding the office and carrying out the duties assigned to him," adding, "that cowardly attack occurred on Saturday (Feb. 28) morning."
It added, "Media aligned with the Zionist regime (Israel) repeatedly claimed that the person was at a secret location out of fear of assassination," and "martyrdom in the office once again proved that the enemy's psychological warfare was fabricated, while also attesting that the person always stands among the people, on the front line against the arrogant forces (the West) with responsibility and unyielding courage."
Ayatollah Khamenei, born Apr. 19, 1939, in Mashhad in northeastern Iran, is a descendant of a family of Shia Islamic clerics. It is said that at age 4 the person began learning the Quran, the Islamic scripture. The name carries honorifics such as "Ayatollah," meaning a high-ranking cleric, and "Seyyed," indicating direct descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Ayatollah Khamenei rose to the position of supreme leader in 1989. In Iran, the supreme leader, a lifetime post, is not only the apex of power as the final decision-maker on national policy, but is also regarded religiously as God's representative.
In addition, four family members, including Ayatollah Khamenei's daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter, also died. As U.S. and Israeli attacks that day focused on Khamenei's residence, it appears that not only Khamenei but also the family members were killed together by the explosions.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We destroyed Khamenei's residence and killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders and senior nuclear officials."
U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media at about 4:40 p.m. (Eastern time) that day, announcing, "Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead." It came roughly 15 hours after the United States and Israel attacked Iran.