Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader since 1989, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his residential compound in Tehran on 28 February 2026, in the opening hours of what became the 2026 Iran War.¹ He was 86. The strike also killed four members of his family and marked the first time a sitting Iranian head of state had been killed by a foreign power since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979.¹ Israel carried out the operation with intelligence and logistical support from the United States, and the Iran government did not confirm the death until 1 March.² His son Mojtaba Khamenei was named the new Supreme Leader by the Assembly of Experts eight days later, on 8 March 2026, in a vote conducted mostly online under wartime security conditions.³

The strike followed the collapse of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran. A third round of Oman-mediated negotiations in Geneva ended on 26 February 2026 without agreement, after Iran rejected a US proposal to trade a civilian nuclear program backed by American investment for full dismantlement of its uranium enrichment infrastructure.⁴ Washington and Israel concluded that diplomacy had been exhausted and that a nuclear-capable Iran was an unacceptable risk.⁴

The plan to kill Khamenei predated the talks' collapse. Israel had proposed an assassination operation during the Twelve-Day War of June 2025, but President Donald Trump rejected it at the time.⁵ The CIA kept tracking Khamenei's movements over the following months, and by February 2026 had identified a recurring Saturday morning meeting at his Tehran compound that would also draw in senior military commanders, giving planners a rare opportunity to strike the leadership in one place.⁵ That intelligence, combined with a fresh green light after the Geneva talks failed, set the date for the operation.⁵

On 28 February 2026 at roughly 9.30am Iran Standard Time, thirty precision munitions and Sparrow air-launched ballistic missiles struck Khamenei's Tehran residence, targeting a bunker built 30 to 35 meters underground with escape tunnels.¹ The strike was one part of a coordinated set of hits across Tehran that morning against senior Iranian officials, including Ali Larijani, a lead figure in the collapsed nuclear talks.¹ Israeli officials claimed Khamenei's death that same day, while Iranian state media initially denied it.¹

On 1 March, the Iranian government officially confirmed Khamenei's death, declared 40 days of national mourning and a seven-day public holiday.² President Masoud Pezeshkian called the killing a great crime and said it would not go unanswered.²

A great crime. It would not go unanswered.

(President Masoud Pezeshkian, 1 March 2026.²)

Reaction inside Iran split sharply, with large mourning crowds in Tehran, Mashhad, and Isfahan alongside street celebrations reported in Isfahan, Karaj, Kermanshah, Qazvin, Shiraz, and other cities, some of which security forces moved to suppress.⁸

Because in-person meetings were considered too dangerous during active strikes, the Assembly of Experts held its selection process mostly online between 3 and 8 March, choosing Mojtaba Khamenei, then 56, as the new Supreme Leader.³ The choice was controversial even within the clerical establishment. His father's will, read out during the process, reportedly stated a preference for an in-person succession vote and explicitly did not want a family member to succeed him.⁹

Iran's retaliation followed quickly. On 18 March, Iran launched a wave of missiles and drones described by its own officials as revenge for the assassinations, hitting roughly 27 US military installations across the region along with Israeli military and defense-industry targets.¹⁰ The war spread through the Strait of Hormuz, drew in Hezbollah against Israel from Lebanon, and pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel as shipping through the strait came under repeated attack.¹⁰

A first pause in the wider fighting came on 8 April 2026, when Pakistan announced the United States and Iran had agreed a two-week halt. Formal negotiations continued for months afterward, and on 17 June 2026 the US and Iranian presidents signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding intended to end the war within 60 days of signing, closing the active phase of the 2026 Iran War.¹¹

Khamenei's state funeral was delayed far longer than his death. Rites originally planned for March were postponed because of the ongoing war and were finally held over six days beginning 3 July 2026, with ceremonies in Tehran and Qom, a transfer of the body to Iraq, and burial on 9 July at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.¹² Iranian authorities prepared for between 12 and 15 million domestic participants, and representatives from more than 100 countries were expected to attend.¹²

Who killed Ali Khamenei? Israel carried out the strike that killed him on 28 February 2026, using intelligence on his location and schedule supplied by the CIA, with the United States providing additional cyber and logistical support during the operation.^1,5

When did Khamenei die? He was killed on 28 February 2026 in a strike on his Tehran compound. Iran's government confirmed the death on 1 March, two days later.^1,2

Who is Iran's supreme leader now? Mojtaba Khamenei, Ali Khamenei's son, was selected by the Assembly of Experts on 8 March 2026 and became Iran's third Supreme Leader.³

Was Khamenei's wife killed in the strike? No. Early reports said she had died, but Fars News Agency reported on 12 March 2026 that she survived. Four other family members, including his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and a granddaughter, were killed alongside him.¹

Did killing Khamenei end the war with Iran? No. Fighting continued for more than three months afterward, spreading across the Strait of Hormuz and into Lebanon, before the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on 17 June 2026 aimed at ending the war.¹¹