Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed in strike, Israel says

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes launched by the U.S. and Israel on Saturday, according to Israeli officials. 

FOX News Digital is reporting they received word of Khamenei’s death from Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD’s Iran program. The Associated Press said it was told by two anonymous Israeli officials that Khamenei was dead. 

Neither Iran nor the U.S. have confirmed his death, but a senior U.S. defense official told FOX News the U.S. government agrees with the Israeli assessment of his death. 

Several other top Iranian leaders were also thought to be killed in the strike. 

Israel’s military told the Associated Press that the strikes also killed Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Iran's Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh.

The military also said its strikes took out Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the Iranian Security Council and a close adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and Mohammad Shirazi, the head of Khamenei’s military bureau.

What they're saying:

As the attack on Iran unfolded, President Donald Trump urged the Iranian public to "seize control of your destiny" by rising up against the Islamic leadership. In a video announcing the "major combat operations," Trump told Iranians that "when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations."

Trump has not spoken since Khamenei's death was reported. 

Earlier:

Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit areas around the offices of Khamenei. Smoke could be seen rising from the capital as part of strikes that Iranian media said occurred nationwide. 

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the 86-year-old leader was in his offices when the attack occurred, and his death was not confirmed until several hours after the attack. 

READ MORE: Live updates: US strikes Iran amid nuclear program tensions

Iran’s supreme leader

Big picture view:

Khamenei has ruled since 1989 and held ultimate power as he continued to shape Iran’s Islamic Republic after the revolution. 

Khamenei became Iran's supreme leader after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khamenei played an important role in the movement that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the 1979 revolution.

Dig deeper:

The supreme leader has the final say on all major policies, leads Iran’s clerical establishment and personally commands the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard — the two main centers of power in the country’s theocracy.

Khamenei has no successor, a source of further uncertainty for the theocracy and Iran’s people.

What's next:

Officially, a panel of Shiite clerics is tasked with choosing one of their own as his successor.

Khamenei's second-eldest son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is a midranking cleric and the rumored successor. He has close ties with the Revolutionary Guard. Mojtaba served in the armed forces during the Iran-Iraq war, and is said to wield influence behind the scenes as his father's gatekeeper.

US and Israel attack Iran

The backstory:

The U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Tehran, and Trump says the U.S. is starting major combat operations against Iran.

This is the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has attacked the Islamic Republic during talks over its nuclear program. Trump says Iran keeps pursuing nuclear work and missile development, and he warns U.S. casualties are possible. 

Iranian state media, citing the Red Crescent, on Saturday evening said at least 201 people had been killed and more than 700 injured.

Meanwhile:

Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region, and exchanges of fire continued into the night.

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