Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader who dominated the country’s political and security structure for more than three decades, was killed Feb. 28, 2026, in a military strike on Tehran. He was 86. The strikes were attributed to a joint U.S.-Israeli operation, ending a tenure that began in 1989.
Khamenei rose through the Islamic Republic’s leadership after the 1979 revolution and served as Iran’s president from 1981 to 1989. He became supreme leader after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and then concentrated authority in the office, with elected institutions operating under tighter vetting and senior decisions on security and foreign policy increasingly set from the top.
He oversaw Iran’s long-running nuclear posture as the country advanced capabilities under widening sanctions and repeated confrontation with Western powers. Throughout his rule, Khamenei maintained a hardline ideological stance toward the United States and Israel that shaped Tehran’s diplomacy and military planning.
At home, his tenure included major crackdowns on dissent, including the 2009 Green Movement and protests that followed the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini. Khamenei's death triggered immediate uncertainty over succession, with Iran’s Assembly of Experts identified as the body responsible for selecting the next supreme leader.
A defining feature of Khamenei’s rule was the expansion and entrenchment of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a central pillar of state power, broadening its influence beyond security into politics and major sectors of the economy and anchoring Iran’s regional reach through aligned armed groups.