President Donald Trump told NBC News in a phone interview Saturday that U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a number of other senior officials. “The people that make all the decisions, most of them are gone,” Trump said, adding that “a large amount of leadership” had been killed but declining to provide additional specifics.
Shortly after the call, Trump posted on Truth Social that Khamenei had been killed in the joint strikes. “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” he wrote, calling the outcome justice for Iranians and others harmed by Khamenei’s regime.
Iranian state broadcaster Press TV posted confirmation of Khamenei’s death on social media, and Iran’s official news agency IRNA later reported that Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Pakpour were also killed in the airstrikes. The Israel Defense Forces had earlier identified the two as among the dead.
When asked who would lead Iran next, Trump said he did not know and joked that at some point officials might call him to ask whom he would prefer, adding he was “only being a little sarcastic.” He repeatedly described the operation as successful, saying, “We’re probably, in terms of zero-to-10, we’re close to the 10 spot, if not there… Tremendous damage has been inflicted. The leadership is gone. Large, large portions of the leadership.”
From his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump posted a video on Truth Social announcing what he called “major combat operations,” saying the goal was to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.” He warned the strikes could produce U.S. casualties and urged Iranian citizens to seize control of their government, saying, “It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
U.S. Central Command said the strikes were part of Operation Epic Fury. CENTCOM said the action began at 1:15 a.m. ET and targeted IRGC command-and-control facilities, Iranian air defenses, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields. The strikes were conducted from air, land and sea, and CENTCOM said the U.S. used “low-cost one-way attack drones for the first time in combat.”
The strikes follow diplomatic talks this week over Iran’s missile and nuclear programs that did not produce an agreement. The administration has framed the operation as a response to imminent threats.
The attacks drew largely supportive reactions from most Republican lawmakers, while many Democrats criticized the action. A handful of Republicans, including Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, also condemned the strikes for being carried out without explicit congressional authorization. Some members of Congress said they will seek a War Powers Act vote in the House next week to challenge the president’s authority to conduct the operation.
Asked how he would know the operation was finished or successful, Trump said, “I think it’s already a success. We’ve inflicted tremendous damage. It would take them years to rebuild.”
Officials have offered limited public detail about the strikes and their aftermath. U.S., Israeli, and Iranian authorities have issued differing accounts, and developments remain fluid as officials on all sides continue to provide updates.