Iranian supreme leader killed in airstrike, Trump says

President Trump says Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Hamini is dead. This comes after U.S. and Israeli forces bombarded targets across Iran. From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly. This message comes from WISE, the app for international people using money around the globe. You can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. Be smart, get wise. Download the WISE app today or visit WISE.com. Ts and Cs apply. The US launches a military operation against Iraq.

Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime. and around the globe. Listen to State of the World on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. NPR News Now is your podcast source for updates every hour on the US military action in Iran. President Trump calls it a war and says the goal is regime change. He also says U.S. casualties are possible. With news changing rapidly, listen to NPR News.

New episodes at the top of every hour on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Ayatollah Ali Hamene, Iran's supreme leader since nineteen eighty nine, is dead. killed today by Israeli strikes. President Trump confirmed the death in a statement posted to Truth Social. No confirmation, at least as of this hour from Iran.

Humanese death would mark the biggest development today on a day when the headlines have just kept coming. Here's how President Trump shared the news of airstrikes from Mar-a-Lago. A short time ago. The United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard

Terrible people. So as you heard there strikes today by both Israel and the US as the day unfolded, Iran hit back, lobbying missiles at Israel. Also at Saudi Arabia, also at Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, a whole list of countries that host US troops.

NPR reporters have been working the phones all day today trying to confirm what we know and what we don't. Among them, our national security correspondent Greg Myrie. In the studio with me here in Washington. Hey Greg. Hi, Mary Louise. And Daniel Estron, who was woken up today by Air Raid Sirens in Tel Aviv. Hey Daniel.

Hi there. Hey, so Daniel, kick us off. The f first reports, the first confirmation of how many's death came from a source briefed on the strike and who talked to you. Would you just Walk us through the TikTok today of trying to confirm this really stunning news. Well what we know is that the opening attack uh that Israel carried out this morning along with the US um included this surprise blitz.

targeting senior Iranian defense officials, um and Israeli military official briefed reporters and said that uh that the US and Israel had been looking for the right opportunity and found it. Um three different gatherings simultaneously are what uh Israel struck this morning. And uh initial reports that I was hearing from from uh person briefed was that Uh Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenae, was killed um and or that was he was hit along with Iran's president.

So we were trying to chase that news all day. Um and by the evening, Israel confirmed a whole host of top officials killed, including Ali Shachmani, the personal advisor of the Supreme Leader, also the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's defense minister, uh a senior intelligence officer, other people tied to Iran's nuclear weapons program and it was only

Late at night when uh the news finally came from President Trump. Um just you mentioned Iran's president Masood Pizeshki and that he was also targeted. Just briefly, do we have any update on the president's status? No update on his status at all and and yeah, I mean we're gonna have to see uh when all the dust settles who was killed and who survived and that's gonna say a lot about uh what will happen next.

Greg, the timing and details of this operation. We were learning about it. It was unfolding here in the US in the wee hours in the dark. In Iran, it was daylight, it was a weekday. Yeah, I mean I think that was that's the real distinctive thing here. And they're always looking at the Israelis when they do this, always looking for a way to catch people off guard. Um and uh i it seems that, you know, Saturday is the first day of the work week in Iran. So in fact it was a Monday morning there.

And so instead of doing this at night like they might normally do, they did it on uh the equivalent of a Monday morning. There's a crisis going on in Iran you might expect them to meet and and perhaps they got lucky

that they were all having these separate sets of meetings when they attacked. And uh Daniel knows this better than I, but we've both been in Israel when the Israelis have carried out air strikes in a place like Gaza. And it might take days, weeks even before they can actually confirm the death of certain individuals that th they're they're targeting. So the fact that they've been able

apparently in the Israeli minds to to think they have a positive confirmation that uh uh the Supreme Leader and other senior leaders have been killed is is is quite extraordinary as well to to know that they were successful this quickly. Succession? What happens now? Who's next?

Iran has a council of uh s I' sor sorry, an assembly of experts. A little bit like the the the Catholic Church. When the Pope dies the College of Cardinals selects a new one. Well Iran has an assembly of experts, eighty eight If the Ayotolla the Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah dies, then they select another one. Well, obviously not a normal time. That's only happened once before anyway, thirty-seven years ago. Only been two Supreme Leaders. Exactly. But that would be the normal process.

we're in the middle of a conflict now, it may fall quickly to the security forces and the revolutionary guards. That's what we're hearing. In fact, uh Reuters had a report that the CIA did a recent assessment and wasn't really sure what was gonna happen, but their best guess or their best thinking was the revolutionary guards or some elements of it would would

would take over. President Trump today suggested that Americans should be braced for casualties. He said this type of thing happens in a war. But we're not hearing anything about American ground troops, Greg? That's that's true because the US does have a small number of ground troops that are at permanently at bases in the region, but they have not all clustered together. They're not near the Iranian border, and even if you add them all up, it's not nearly the size of a force.

you would need. In fact I doing the math some of the previous wars, it's maybe ten or twenty percent of the the ground troops the US had in Iraq previously. Got it. Those those wars. Ground war seems very, very unlikely, just doesn't isn't isn't on the table given the resources that are there right now. Daniel, what are Israeli officials saying? Has Prime Minister Netanyahu given any sense of how far along in this operation he thinks things are?

Well, all they're saying is that it's going to take as long as necessary, and they the Israelis have announced that already today uh they carried out the largest aerial operation, the largest air force operation in Israeli history. uh with around two hundred fighter jets. So a real blitz at the very beginning. Um a person briefed on this operation has told me that we're expecting another couple of days of intense

strikes in Iran, uh and retaliatory strikes uh in Israel as well. So we're looking at

Sunday and Monday uh at least and it could go on for for many more days. So President Trump uh when he spoke to Americans today, he was facing cameras, he was in Mar a Lago, he was Addressing Americans about an American military action, he also had a message for Iran. Stay sheltered, don't leave your home. It's very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.

This will be probably your only chance for a generation. Greg Myrie, how should we understand this? The President of the United States calling on the people of Iran rise up. Sounds like regime change. Uh and and that really just jumped out at me when I when I first listened to this, because this is the first time Trump really revealed what he wants. He'd he'd been very vague and and fuzzy about that.

Also it goes against what he's been saying for for a decade that that he doesn't want to get the US involved in open ended forever wars. And in the Middle East, the two previous wars were Iran To the to the west, uh Iraq and and uh Afghanistan. He's picked the country right between them.

uh to to launch uh another major military operation. So we are of course working to get reaction from inside Iran, try to figure out what is happening there. I was swapping messages on WhatsApp this morning with contacts on the ground in Tehran. They were not willing to go on the record, but i the fact that they could respond they are on the internet or at least were at that hour they have access to social media if they're behind a VPN. Марколі НПРЗ Арзу Розвані газом контакт в принципі, Іран.

Among them a thirty something year old who we are identifying as V. V lives in Tehran, gave only his first initial because of fear of retribution. He told Arzu he was settling into work when these attacks started. And suddenly you heard some uh loud noises and then the explosions. We even uh saw uh one of the explosions from our office window. It was around the middle of the city, downtown Tehran.

Arzu also reached a twenty two year old college student who requested complete anonymity. She woke up to the sound of explosions. She says this is a day she has long hoped for Manhazan. So she's saying there and I quote I am ready to be killed by a bomb if it means the certain death of even a few of our regime officials. So a little bit of reaction there from inside Iran.

Uh Daniel, walk us through the stakes for the rest of the region. We mentioned Iran's response lobbying missiles. Um if you look at a map of the Middle East, it's it's lit up with places that Iran fired missiles at today, and then aside From all the military activity, the Strait of Hormuz has been closed. Explain what that is, what that means in the region.

Right. Well the Strait of Hormuz is a strategic waterway. It's controlled by Iran. It is crucial to the world's oil trade. Uh so this could affect global oil prices. But you know, just I think we just have to take a moment to take this in, right? Iran's supreme leader has been killed, according to President Trump. Um Iran has struck back at seven countries today. The Dubai International Airport and the United Arab Emirates, a major global hub, was hit. We've seen videos of that.

uh a building not far from me in Tel Aviv was hit, causing serious injuries. Reportedly a a woman, a young woman in her forties, was killed. These are extraordinary events even after Two and a half years of extraordinary war and extraordinary events. Um and and I the re repercussions will be felt throughout the region. Greg, quick last word from you.

These yeah, to to just echo Daniel, this is a shock to the system. You may think you're ready for it, but you're not. You may think, My goodness, we're gonna have a new country or my goodness, how do I protect my family? And and after that surge of emotion, this will play out for many days to come and you may find out you don't end up exactly where you think you will.

That is NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myrie and NPR International Correspondent Daniel Estran in Tel Aviv, two of the many NPR reporters who have been at it all day today. Thanks to you both. Sure thing, Mary Louise. This episode was produced by Eric Orion, Karen Zamora, and Kai McNamee with audio engineering by Neil T. Andre Sussman, our executive producer. From NPR, I'm Mary Louise.

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