Zim GBC News International Desk<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been confirmed dead following coordinated US-Israeli attacks on his office, according to Iranian state media. A 40-day mourning period has been announced across the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The confirmation on Sunday ends hours of conflicting reports regarding the fate of the 86-year-old leader, who had held ultimate authority in Iran since 1989. Initial reports from Iran\u2019s Tasnim and Mehr news agencies had suggested Khamenei was still commanding operations, but state media later confirmed his death in the strikes that began early on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to confirm the operation, stating that Khamenei was unable to evade sophisticated tracking systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe 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,\u201d President Trump wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US leader framed the death as an opportunity for political change in Tehran, adding,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. Hopefully, the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also claimed there were \u201cgrowing signs\u201d pointing to the leader\u2019s death, a claim later corroborated by a senior Israeli official who spoke to Reuters, stating that Khamenei\u2019s body had been located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khamenei, who succeeded the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, held supreme power over Iran\u2019s government, military, and judiciary. His assassination injects a high level of uncertainty into an already volatile regional conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Political analysts suggest that despite the shock of the leader\u2019s death, the Iranian power structure has contingencies in place. Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, explained the likely succession mechanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIran \u2018has a plan\u2019 in place if Khamenei\u2019s death is confirmed. There will probably be a council that will be set up to run the country. It may already have been running the country, as far as we know,\u201d Slavin told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The international community remains on high alert as the region braces for potential fallout from the assassination and the subsequent power transition within the Iranian hierarchy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FOLLOW US FOR REAL-TIME UPDATES:
\u00b7 X (Twitter): @ZimGbc
\u00b7 Instagram: @ZimGBCNews
\u00b7 TikTok: @ZimGBCNews_01
\u00b7 Facebook: Zim GBC News
\u00b7 YouTube: Zim GBC News<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Get real-time alerts on WhatsApp:
+263 773 820 323<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For in-depth coverage, visit our website: www.zimgbcnews.co.zw<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zim GBC News | Global News From An African Perspective\u00a9202<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zim GBC News International Desk Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been confirmed dead following coordinated US-Israeli attacks on his office, according to Iranian state media. A 40-day mourning… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12573,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12571\/revisions\/12573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}