Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, is presumed dead following a large-scale military operation involving the United States and Israel on Saturday, according to multiple Israeli official sources and a senior U.S. intelligence official who spoke to CBS News.
The officials said the assessment followed a coordinated campaign carried out by U.S. and Israeli forces. They did not provide specific details about the strikes, including the intended targets, locations, or the circumstances that led to the conclusion that Khamenei is presumed dead.
Israeli sources described the operation as massive in scope but did not confirm the use of particular weapons systems or platforms. They also did not disclose whether the strikes occurred directly on Iranian territory or elsewhere.
A senior U.S. intelligence official told CBS News that American agencies currently assess Khamenei as presumed dead. The official did not specify what intelligence methods informed that assessment, nor whether it was based on visual confirmation, intercepted communications, satellite imagery, or other classified sources.
There has been no public confirmation from the Iranian government regarding Khamenei’s status. Iranian state media had not issued a formal statement at the time of the report, and no official announcement of a leadership transition in Tehran had been made.
Details about casualties, damage assessments, and the broader impact of the military operation remain limited. Israeli sources did not indicate whether other senior Iranian political, military, or religious figures were believed to have been killed or injured, nor did they address whether additional operations were planned.
The extent of direct U.S. military involvement has not been outlined in public briefings. The U.S. intelligence official characterized the action as a joint campaign with Israel but did not clarify whether U.S. forces conducted strikes, provided logistical support, or primarily contributed intelligence and targeting information.
Under Iran’s political system, confirmation of the death of a sitting supreme leader would typically involve formal announcements from state and religious authorities. There was no indication that such a process had begun. No information was available about emergency meetings of the Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for selecting a supreme leader.
The report comes amid longstanding tensions among Iran, Israel and the United States. Officials cited by CBS News did not link the timing of the operation to a specific triggering event. Independent verification of Khamenei’s status was not immediately available, and no recent images or video had been released publicly to address the claims.
Foreign governments, analysts and markets continued to monitor developments. As of the time of the report, no corroborated public evidence had been released confirming the presumed death, and the situation remained fluid.
