{"id":132610,"date":"2026-02-28T21:02:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T21:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/netanyahu-claims-khamenei-is-dead-in-tehran-strikes\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T21:02:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T21:02:55","slug":"netanyahu-claims-khamenei-is-dead-in-tehran-strikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/netanyahu-claims-khamenei-is-dead-in-tehran-strikes\/","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu claims Khamenei is dead in Tehran strikes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>TEHRAN, Iran Feb 28\u2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there are \u201cgrowing signs\u201d that Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is \u201cgone\u201d following a wave of joint US-Israeli strikes, though there is no independent confirmation of his death.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Satellite imagery has shown damage to Khamenei\u2019s compound in Tehran, while unverified reports from Israeli and US sources claim he may have been killed. Reuters, citing a senior Israeli official, reported that his body had been found, while other outlets quoted officials making similar claims. Iranian authorities have not confirmed the reports.<\/p>\n<p>The developments come amid a sharp escalation in hostilities, with the US and Israel carrying out strikes across Iran targeting what Israeli officials described as senior regime figures. Israel said \u201cseveral senior figures\u201d had been \u201celiminated,\u201d as its air force continued operations.<\/p>\n<p>Iran has responded with attacks across the region, with reported strikes in Dubai, Doha, Bahrain and Kuwait\u2014locations hosting US military bases or allied to Washington. The widening conflict has raised fears of a broader regional war.<\/p>\n<p>US President Donald Trump said \u201cmajor combat operations\u201d were under way and urged Iranians to \u201ctake over\u201d their government, signalling heightened pressure on Tehran. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said British aircraft were also operating in the region as part of coordinated defensive measures.<\/p>\n<p>The Iranian Red Crescent reported that more than 200 people have been killed across the country, as explosions continued to be reported on Saturday. Analysts say Washington and its allies may view the current moment as an opportunity to weaken Iran\u2019s leadership structure.<\/p>\n<p>Ayatollah Khamenei, who has led Iran since 1989, is the country\u2019s most powerful figure, serving as head of state and commander-in-chief, with control over key security institutions including the Revolutionary Guard.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TEHRAN, Iran Feb 28\u2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there are \u201cgrowing signs\u201d that Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is \u201cgone\u201d following a wave of joint US-Israeli strikes, though there is no independent confirmation of his death. Satellite imagery has shown damage to Khamenei\u2019s compound in Tehran, while unverified reports from Israeli [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}