Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested on Saturday that Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may be dead, following an earlier statement calling on the Iranian people to “take to the streets and finish the job.”
There were many indications that Khamenei “is no longer alive,” Netanyahu said in a televised address Saturday evening, without confirming the Iranian leader’s death, but saying Khamenei’s compound was destroyed and that Revolutionary Guard commanders and senior nuclear officials were eliminated.
Earlier, Iran’s foreign minister told NBC News that the country’s supreme leader and president was alive “as far as I know.”
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Iran’s Al-Alam television said Khamenei would speak, but a speech was never televised.
Netanyahu’s update Saturday afternoon followed the release of a recorded message Saturday morning where he said Israel’s launch of a co-ordinated operation with the U.S. in Iran will be “much more powerful” than June’s short-lived conflict spearheaded by the American military.
He called on Iranian forces to lay down their weapons and encouraged Iranians to bring down their government.
Authorities in Tehran condemned the strikes, which began in the morning and hit different areas of the country, unprovoked and illegal.
— This is a developing story; check back for updates.
–– With files from Reuters and The Associated Press
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