On Saturday, the United States and Israel launched joint military operations against Iran, including assaults near Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s Tehran headquarters.

According to Channel 12, citing anonymous Israeli sources, the government is ‘assessing’ whether Khamenei was killed in a strike earlier Saturday.

The same broadcaster had previously said that Khamenei had been “hurt at the very least,” before claiming his death. According to Israel’s national broadcaster Kan, “there is no contact” with Khamenei, and his status is unknown.

Iran has denied and ridiculed the reports. According to a source close to the president, Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are “in good health.” In an interview with NBC, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghch, said the country’s 86-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is still alive “as far as I know.”

The New York Times obtained satellite imagery from Airbus Defence and Space that showed Khamenei’s Tehran compound, known as the Beit-e Rahbari, the site of his decades-long reign, reduced to blazing rubble.

According to reports, Ayatollah Khamenei was not at his Tehran offices when the strikes occurred, and he was whisked away to a top-secret subterranean bunker at an undisclosed location.

According to a Reuters source citing an Iranian official, Khamenei was taken to a top-secret safe house as the US-Israeli offensive began on Saturday. The Supreme Leader is said to be imprisoned in a secure underground bunker, with only his closest associates likely to know where he is.

The United States and Israel staged a coordinated attack on Iran on Saturday, with Trump later revealing in a social media post that US forces were involved.

Following the event, Iran launched retaliatory missile strikes against Israel and US military bases in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Kuwait, raising concerns about a full-fledged regional conflict.

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