{"id":91774,"date":"2026-02-28T18:41:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T23:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/?p=91774"},"modified":"2026-02-28T18:42:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T23:42:27","slug":"israeli-official-khamenei-killed-in-strike-on-tehran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/israeli-official-khamenei-killed-in-strike-on-tehran\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli official: Khamenei killed in strike on Tehran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By CHARLES BYBELEZER and AMELIE BOTBOL<\/p>\n<p>(<em>JNS.org<\/em>) \u2013&nbsp;An Israel Defense Forces strike killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an Israeli official told local media on Saturday night.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_91775\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ali_Khamenei_1320x880.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91775\" class=\"wp-image-91775 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ali_Khamenei_1320x880-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ali_Khamenei_1320x880-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ali_Khamenei_1320x880-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ali_Khamenei_1320x880-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ali_Khamenei_1320x880.jpg 1320w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91775\" class=\"wp-image-91775 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ali_Khamenei_1320x880-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ali_Khamenei_1320x880-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ali_Khamenei_1320x880-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ali_Khamenei_1320x880-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ali_Khamenei_1320x880.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-91775\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei visits the exhibition of achievements of the IRGC Aerospace Force in Tehran, Nov. 19, 2023. Credit: khamenei.ir via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to Israel\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Channel 12<\/em>, the body of the 86-year-old, described as riddled with shrapnel, was recovered from the rubble after his compound in Tehran was targeted during the opening phase of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/israel-strikes-iran\/\">Operation Roaring Lion<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Documentation supporting the assessment was in Israel\u2019s possession and had been presented to the prime minister and senior members of the security establishment, the reports said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are speaking about Khamenei\u2014the Hitler of the 2000s\u2014and this is one of the reasons the State of Israel was created, after Hitler murdered six million of our people,\u201d Likud legislator Moshe Passal told JNS on Saturday night. \u201cWhen there is someone preparing a [nuclear] weapon and saying that he will destroy all the Jews in the world, this is the inevitable side to be on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to be thankful to God that we are living in these times,\u201d he continued. \u201cMy grandmother was in Auschwitz; she would have wanted the fighter jets of Israel and our strong army to exist at that time. Thank God, we have the possibility to fight our enemies and crush them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very clear to me that we have the hand of God helping us,\u201d Passal added.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_91776\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/satellite-imagery-1320x880-1.webp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91776\" class=\"wp-image-91776 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/satellite-imagery-1320x880-1-300x200.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/satellite-imagery-1320x880-1-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/satellite-imagery-1320x880-1-1024x683.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/satellite-imagery-1320x880-1-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/satellite-imagery-1320x880-1.webp 1320w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91776\" class=\"wp-image-91776 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/satellite-imagery-1320x880-1-300x200.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/satellite-imagery-1320x880-1-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/satellite-imagery-1320x880-1-1024x683.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/satellite-imagery-1320x880-1-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/satellite-imagery-1320x880-1.webp 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-91776\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Satellite imagery from an Israeli strike on Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei\u2019s compound, Feb. 28, 2026. Credit: Courtesy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Satellite images published earlier Saturday by&nbsp;<em>The New York Times<\/em>&nbsp;showed extensive destruction at the Iranian leader\u2019s compound, including collapsed structures and a large plume of black smoke rising from the fortified complex, which serves as both Khamenei\u2019s primary residence and the site where he receives senior regime officials.<\/p>\n<p>An Israeli official confirmed that several senior Iranian leaders were targeted in the airstrikes carried out by the IDF.<\/p>\n<p>Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei told the&nbsp;<em>BBC<\/em> on Saturday that he was \u201cnot in a situation to confirm anything\u201d regarding the strike targeting the country\u2019s senior leadership.<\/p>\n<p>A central objective of the first joint wave of attacks was to hit as many leaders as possible, according to three Israeli security officials familiar with the operations, the&nbsp;<em>Times&nbsp;<\/em>reported, adding that Jerusalem \u201cexpected the assault to last several days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The United States and Israel launched a preemptive strike on Saturday morning, following months of confrontation across multiple fronts and repeated warnings that the Islamic Republic\u2019s military and nuclear infrastructure could become direct targets if hostilities intensified.<\/p>\n<p>Likud Party lawmaker Dan Illouz told JNS on Saturday night that the Jewish state is confronting what he described as a cornered and desperate regime firing ballistic missiles at its cities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will need patience, we will hear sirens, and the public must strictly follow Home Front Command directives. But we absolutely cannot let the tactical difficulties of the next few days obscure the historic paradigm shift happening right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"media-oembed-video\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" title=\"X Post\" data-src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=JNS_org&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2027795476616011934&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jns.org%2Freport-satellite-imagery-shows-heavy-damage-at-khamenei-compound%2F&amp;sessionId=4dc90983dd62d122fb5554d801ad31aaf703f307&amp;siteScreenName=JNS_org&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"2027795476616011934\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe are witnessing the birth of a new Middle East. Once this regime falls, my vision is that we will soon sign the \u2018Cyrus Accords.\u2019 Just as the Abraham Accords transformed our region, the Cyrus Accords will establish a historic peace between the Jewish state and a newly freed, democratic Iranian republic, renewing the ancient and deep bond between our two peoples,\u201d Illouz continued.<\/p>\n<p>He said the ultimate objective of the operation must be full regime change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsrael cannot settle for merely degrading their nuclear sites or temporarily destroying ballistic missile capabilities,\u201d he said. \u201cAs long as the ayatollahs and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hold power, they will simply rebuild their terror network and continue to threaten the free world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that \u201cthe international community wasted years begging for a diplomatic fix in Geneva. That era of appeasement is over. The only way to guarantee the security of the State of Israel and bring true stability to the Middle East is the complete collapse of this radical Islamic terror cult, giving the Iranian people the opportunity to take their country back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Illouz stated that \u201cthe disruption we are facing right now is a small price to pay to ensure our children never have to live under the shadow of a nuclear-armed Iran. We took our fate into our own hands, and we will emerge from this victorious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Likud lawmaker Tally Gotliv told JNS that the people of Israel are \u201cstrong and courageous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBlessed be the good and beneficent God for the hidden and overt miracles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Gotliv emphasized that only Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have been capable\u2014\u201cwith great courage and wisdom\u201d\u2014of leading an operation of immense importance aimed at eliminating Iran\u2019s existential threat to Israel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsrael is doing the unbelievable again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Israeli%20official%3A%20Khamenei%20killed%20in%20strike%20on%20Tehran\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":91775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4414,8781,8790,8795,8788,518],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91774"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91777,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91774\/revisions\/91777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}