Israel, US timed Iran strikes to Khamenei meeting with inner circle - report

Israel and the US timed their strikes on Iran to coincide with a meeting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei held with top advisers, according to multiple sources cited by Reuters, in an operation that officials say killed Iran’s top leader and several senior officials. The coordinated air and naval attacks, followed by Iranian retaliatory strikes against Israel and nearby Gulf Arab states, have pushed the Middle East into a new and unpredictable conflict.

Israeli officials said Khamenei was killed along with key lieutenants, including Ali Shamkhani, the powerful former secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Pakpour. Two Iranian sources told Reuters that Khamenei met on Saturday with Shamkhani and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani at a secure location shortly before the strikes began. A senior Israeli official told Reuters that Khamenei’s body had been found. 

US President Donald Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that Iran’s top leader was killed after intelligence tracked his movements. “He was unable to avoid our intelligence and highly sophisticated tracking systems, and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do,” Trump said. Iranian state media also reported Khamenei’s death as part of what it described as the most extensive strikes on the country in decades.

Two US sources and a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said confirmation that Khamenei was meeting his top aides triggered the joint Israeli-US operation. The US official said the attack needed to hit Khamenei first to maintain the element of surprise, suggesting concerns that the Iranian leader would go into hiding if he had advance warning. One US source said Khamenei had originally been expected to hold the meeting on Saturday evening in Tehran, but Israeli intelligence detected a meeting on Saturday morning, and the strikes were moved forward.

The precise location of the meeting was not immediately clear, the sources said. However, Khamenei’s high‑security compound in Tehran was struck at the beginning of the operation, and satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters confirmed that the site was destroyed. Israel said it launched a further wave of strikes on Sunday as Iranians faced uncertainty after the killing of their 86‑year‑old leader.

After Khamenei’s death, Head of Iran’s National Security Council said a temporary Leadership Council will be formed today. According to a report by Iran International, Iran's president, judiciary chief, Guardian Council jurist will assume the supreme leader's duties.

The impact of Khamenei’s death on Iran’s internal power structure and regional policy remains uncertain. In a pre‑attack assessment, the US Central Intelligence Agency concluded that he could be replaced by hardliners from within the IRGC, according to two sources briefed on the intelligence. Officials and analysts warn that the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, combined with ongoing military exchanges, could further destabilize the region and complicate efforts to contain wider escalation.