The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday said Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed inside his leadership compound in central Tehran
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TEL AVIV — The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday said Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed inside his leadership compound in central Tehran, asserting that the operation marked the end of what it described as a decades-long chapter of terror directed against Israel.
Khamenei was killed in an epochal attack by the US and Israel, marking an inflexion point in the 46-year Shia-theocratic rule, as Tehran's retaliation set off conflagrations in a swath of the Middle East.
In its official announcement, the Israeli military detailed the circumstances of the strike, stating, "The Air Force, under precise intelligence guidance from the Military Intelligence and in cooperation with the Military Intelligence, attacked the leadership compound in the heart of Tehran where he was staying along with other senior officials."
The Israeli military described Khamenei as the head of what it termed the Iranian "terrorist regime" since 1989 and accused him of advancing an extremist ideology directed against Israel and Western nations. It further alleged that he was "directly responsible for the violent repression of Iranian citizens for many years."
"Khamenei was the father of the plan to destroy the State of Israel, the 'head of the Iranian octopus', who sent his arms throughout the Middle East and to the borders of the State of Israel, led by the terrorist organisation Hezbollah. The leader of the regime was responsible for terrorist attacks on the State of Israel and had the blood of many citizens from all over the world on his hands," the IDF added.
Related: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who led the Islamic Republic since 1989, is dead at 86
The military said the killing was part of a broader campaign targeting key figures aligned with what it called the "Iranian terror axis".
"The IDF brought to an end a decades-long chapter with the elimination of the leader of the Iranian terror axis. His elimination joins a series of eliminations of senior members of the terror axis carried out by the IDF during the war," it stated.
"The assassination of Khamenei expresses the promise between the IDF and the citizens of the State of Israel -- to attack and thwart any element that tries to harm the State of Israel anywhere and at any time," the statement further said.
Earlier on Sunday, the IDF announced that Israeli Air Force fighter jets had dropped more than 1,200 munitions in strikes across Iran over the past 24 hours.
According to the Israeli military, the aerial campaign targeted hundreds of Iranian military assets, including ballistic missile launchers and air defence systems, as part of the ongoing offensive.