Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed. This information was reported by Al Jazeera on Sunday (March 1) about Iran’s news agency Tasnim and Fars News Agency.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (86) became the supreme leader of Iran in 1989 after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. As supreme leader, he has full control over Iran’s political, military and religious institutions. Besides, he determined the country’s internal policy and foreign policy.
After the 1979 revolution, the post of supreme leader was created in Iran and included in the constitution. Through this, a top religious leader is given absolute power over the president and parliament. The ‘Assembly of Experts’, consisting of 88 members of scholars, officially elects this leader.
One of the foundations of Khamenei’s power is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij paramilitary forces. According to analysts, the adherence to these two security structures has cemented its position.
Khamenei has long said that Iran will never develop nuclear weapons and that its nuclear program is being conducted only for civilian purposes. Neither the US intelligence agency nor the UN nuclear watchdog have so far found any irrefutable evidence of Iran’s attempt to develop a nuclear bomb. However, the political circles of Israel and the United States have been making different demands for a long time.
Top leaders of Israel and the United States have made harsh comments about Khamenei in the past. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated that removing Iran’s top leadership could end the long-standing conflict. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said, ‘Khamenei cannot survive like this.’
In his words, a dictator like ‘Khamenei, who is leading a state with the goal of destroying Israel – cannot continue to exist.’
US President Donald Trump has also warned Khamenei several times. Recently, he said, if the people of Iran want, it is possible to change the government and that can be the ‘best outcome. In the past he also commented on Khamenei as ‘easy target’.
According to analysts, the recent attacks may aim to weaken Iran’s political and military leadership. This step may have been taken from the idea that strategically isolating or disabling the top leadership could create instability in the state apparatus.
How Khamenei’s position was confirmed by the United States-Israel
Before the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, there was a close intelligence exchange between the United States and Israel. This was reported by the New York Times citing several people who knew about the operation.
According to the report, just before the US and Israel were preparing to attack Iran, the CIA received a very important piece of information. The US Central Intelligence Agency monitored Ayatollah Khamenei’s whereabouts and movements for months. Over time they collect more accurate information about his location and movements.
According to reports, the CIA received information that Iran’s top officials would meet at a complex in downtown Tehran on Saturday morning. Khamenei will also attend that meeting. After such information came into the hands of the CIA, the United States and Israel changed the timing of the attack. The concerned officials said that the timing of the attack was changed to use this new intelligence information.
The information obtained by the CIA creates a great opportunity for the United States and Israel to achieve their goals. Because they have been saying that changing Iran’s top religious and political leadership is their goal. They believe that the information obtained will lead to great success quickly. It will be possible to remove Iran’s top officials and kill the supreme leader.
Citing various sources, the media reported that the CIA gave Israel ‘very accurate’ information about Khamenei’s location. However, the official refused to be named as it was a sensitive military and intelligence matter.
The US media reported that the attack was initially planned in the dark of night. But after receiving information about the meeting at the complex on Saturday morning, the timing of the attack was changed. The meeting was scheduled to take place in a complex that houses Iran’s president, supreme leader and National Security Council offices.
US and Israeli intelligence believed that the meeting would be attended by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Mohammad Pakpur, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Military Council Chief Admiral Ali Shamkhani, IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Syed Majid Mousavi, Deputy Intelligence Minister Mohammad Shirazi and several other top officials.
According to the news, in the light of the intelligence received, according to the changed time, the operation started around 6 am according to Israel time. Then the warplanes took off from the base. Although the number of aircraft was small, they had long-range and highly accurate missiles capable of hitting targets. The missiles hit the complex at around 9:40 am Tehran time, two hours and five minutes after takeoff. Top national security officials were in a building in the complex at the time of the attack. Khamenei was in another nearby building.
The information obtained by the CIA is correct and accordingly the attack by the Israeli and US forces was proved to be perfect in a short time. Soon after the attack, Israel claimed that top leaders, including Khamenei, had been killed. However, no one could immediately give definite information about Israel’s claim. Iran has repeatedly said that the supreme religious leader Khamenei is alive and well. However, Tehran later acknowledged the martyrdom of some top leaders and military officials, including Khamenei.
