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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei dead after IDF strike hits Tehran compound, Israeli source confirms
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Iran’s militant and unyielding supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic Republic for more than three decades and oversaw an era of harsh internal repression and confrontation with the United States and Israel, has died following the Israeli strike in Tehran, as his compound was reduced to rubble, a senior Israeli official told Fox News Digital.
«Khamenei was the contemporary Middle East’s longest-serving autocrat. He did not get to be that way by being a gambler. Khamenei was an ideologue, but one who ruthlessly pursued the preservation and protection of his ideology, often taking two steps forward and one step back,» Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD’s Iran program, told Fox News Digital.
«Khamenei’s worldview was shaped by his militant anti-Americanism and antisemitism, which first manifested itself in his protests against the Shah of Iran,» he added.
View of Iranian President Ali Khamenei during a welcoming ceremony for his State Visit, Beijing, China, May 11, 1989. ( Forrest Anderson/Getty Images)
Born April 19, 1939, in Mashhad, eastern Iran, Khamenei was among the Islamist activists who played a central role in the 1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. A close ally of Iran’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei rose through the new system and served as president from 1981 to 1989 before becoming supreme leader after Khomeini’s death that same year.
Decades in power, Khamenei consolidated control over Iran’s political and security system, presiding over repeated crackdowns on dissent and maintaining a hardline posture toward Washington and Jerusalem.
«Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rule has been marked by unrelenting brutality and repression, both within Iran and beyond its borders,» said Lisa Daftari, an expert on Iran and editor-in-chief of The Foreign Desk. She pointed to executions and the enforcement of strict social controls as defining features of the system under Khamenei’s leadership.
His ultra-conservative style of leadership did face challenges, however. In 2009, following disputed elections in which Khamenei declared victory for the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, massive protests erupted across the country.
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In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police, in Tehran, Oct. 1, 2022. (The Associated Press)
Mass demonstrations also broke out in 2022 after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, died while detained by the morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly. The protests were brutally put down, with many of those arrested and put to death by his regime.
In late December, Iran was again rocked by protests and a fierce brutal security response. According to an Iran International investigation, as many as 30,000 people may have been killed across two days, Jan. 8 to 9, 2026.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (L) meets the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei during his visit in Tehran, Iran on Oct. 22, 2016. (Pool / Supreme Leader Press Office/Anadolu Agency/Getty Image)
International monitors and rights groups have repeatedly documented high execution numbers in Iran in recent years as well. Amnesty International said Iranian authorities executed more than 1,000 people in 2025, calling it the highest yearly figure the organization recorded in at least 15 years. Separately, a U.N. report said Iran executed at least 975 people in 2024, the highest number since 2015.
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Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran on Jan. 9, 2026. (MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
Across the region, Khamenei invested heavily in Iran’s network of allied militias and armed groups, a strategy used to project Iranian power beyond its borders. From the West Bank and Gaza, where he backed terror groups such as Hamas, to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi extremists in Yemen, as well as other militant militias in Iraq, Iran under Khamenei’s spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the terror groups.
However, his prized proxies, as well as the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, collapsed under Israeli military pressure following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. During a 12-day war in June 2025, Israel also succeeded in taking out some of Khamenei’s closest aides and senior security figures, leaving the long-serving leader significantly weakened.
Yet analysts argue that Khamenei’s most enduring legacy may be the institutional machinery he built at home to safeguard the system.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei makes first public appearance in weeks with fresh U.S. threats. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader Credit/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A recent report by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), authored by Saeid Golkar and Kasra Aarabi, describes the Bayt, the Office of the Supreme Leader, as a parallel structure embedded across Iran’s military, economy, religious institutions and bureaucracy.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Aarabi said, «It is the hidden nerve center of the regime in Iran… it operates as a state within a state.» He argued that even Khamenei’s removal would not necessarily dismantle the system. «Even if he is eliminated, the Bayt as an institution enables the Supreme Leader to function,» Aarabi said, adding, «Think of the Supreme Leader as an institution rather than just a single individual.»
Aarabi also warned that «eliminating Khamenei in isolation on its own is not enough,» calling for a broader strategy aimed at the wider apparatus surrounding the supreme leader. «You have to dismantle this extensive apparatus that he has created,» he said.
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«Unlike Khomeini, the founding father of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei institutionalized his power. Today, the Islamic Republic is more a product of Khamenei than Khomeini,» FDD’s Ben Taleblu added.
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INTERNACIONAL
Trump proven right on Iran’s long-range missile capability as regime targets US-UK base, experts say
Iran fires missiles toward US-UK military base
Fox News senior correspondent Mike Tobin reports on Iran launching missiles toward a joint U.S.-U.K. military base, while Netanyahu advisor Caroline Glick provides analysis on ‘Fox News Live.’
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The Islamic Republic of Iran significantly escalated its war effort against the U.S. with its launch of two intermediate-range ballistic missiles on Friday toward Diego Garcia, a key U.S.-U.K. military base in the Indian Ocean.
The targeting of Diego Garcia, roughly 2,500 miles from Iran, means Tehran’s missile capabilities appear to have exceeded previously acknowledged limits.
In the period leading up to Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed that «We intentionally kept the range of our missiles below 2,000 km so we don’t have that capability. And we don’t want to do that because we do not have hostility against the United States people and all Europeans.»
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Map from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies showing Iran’s missile ranges. (The Foundation for Defense of Democracies)
On Saturday, Israel Defense Forces IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said «Just yesterday, Iran launched a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 4,000 kilometers [2,500 miles] toward an American target on the island of Diego Garcia. These missiles were not intended to hit Israel. Their range reaches the capitals of Europe — Berlin, Paris and Rome are all within direct threat range.»
IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani blasted the alleged Iranian deception on X: «Just 3 days before the war, the Iranian regime said they don’t obtain long-range missiles. Today, their lies were exposed once again, when missiles were fired 4000km away from Iran. They hoped to lie their way into becoming a force that can terrorize the world. We didn’t buy it.»
Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital, «The Trump administration, in citing Iran’s missile threat as a rationale for Operation Epic Fury, was therefore justified in its decision to undertake military action as Iran has consistently refused to negotiate over its missile program. It also shows how dangerous it is to solely rely on Iranian nuclear weapons fatwas and the supreme leader’s public rhetoric in formulating U.S. policy. As long as Iran retains the technical capability beyond public pronouncements, it is a threat.»
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A big banner depicting Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is placed next to a ballistic missile in Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on September 26, 2024, on the sideline of an exhibition which marks the 44th anniversary of the start of Iran-Iraq war. (Photo by Hossein Beris /Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Brodsky, «I think it’s a message that the IRGC is in charge in Iran after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death. When Khamenei was alive, he limited the range of Iran’s missile program to 2000 km. Khamenei recounted in 2018 how he had rejected overtures from IRGC commanders seeking to increase the range to as much as 5000 km.»
He continued, «But now that he has died, those voices in the IRGC seeking to increase the range are likely driving the agenda. The launch of the missiles was likely meant as a signal of the IRGC’s capabilities to threaten U.S. allies beyond the Middle East. For example, this threatens Europe.»
The two long-range Iranian missiles did not hit the base, but the attempted attack marked a significant expansion of Iran’s reach beyond the Middle East and toward a major U.S. strategic hub. One missile reportedly failed in flight, while a U.S. warship launched an SM-3 interceptor at the other, officials said. It was not immediately clear whether the interception was successful. The remote base is a critical launch point for U.S. bombers, nuclear submarines and other strategic assets.
Ilan Berman, Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital, «The launch hammers home the president’s point about Iran being an imminent threat. It’s easy for casual observers to ignore, but the increasing maturity of Iran’s strategic programs, plural, has been exponentially expanding the threat that the Islamic Republic poses beyond the Middle East. That is what «Epic Fury» is seeking to address. The administration believes, absolutely correctly in my view, that these types of capabilities cannot be left in the hands of a radical, predatory regime.»
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Israeli air defense systems are activated to intercept Iranian missiles over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv amid a fresh barrage of Iranian rockets on June 16, 2025. (Menahem Kahanna/AFP via Getty Images)
He continued that «Despite its public denials, it’s been clear that the Iranian regime has been working on expanding the range of its ballistic missile capabilities for years. The launch toward Diego Garcia confirms that it has made real progress toward that goal, and is already able to put targets in the same range as Central and Eastern Europe at risk. Moreover, it’s clear that the regime is seeking still greater capabilities – and that, if left intact, Iran’s ballistic missiles would attain intercontinental range soon.»
Berman, the author of «Iran’s Deadly Ambition: The Islamic Republic’s Quest for Global Power,» added, «The parallel development Iran has been carrying out on its space program is significant. The booster used to put payloads into orbit can be married onto a medium-range missile to create intercontinental range capabilities. Before the war, we were seeing a clear convergence of the regime’s strategic programs: its ballistic missile work, its space capabilities and its nuclear program.»
A U.S. B-2 Spirit bomber, part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, stops for refueling at the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia in October 2001, following an airstrike mission over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Department of Defense/Senior Airman Rebeca M. Luquin)
He warned about the serious Iranian threat to continental Europe. «Europe is absolutely at risk, as the recent launch makes clear. I wouldn’t say that a failure to recognize this to date has been due to a grand deception by Tehran, though. It is more attributable to willful blindness on the part of European elites about the extent of the threat that the Iranian regime poses, as well as undue faith in diplomacy and arms control in containing it,» he said.
On Saturday, the United Kingdom condemned the attack. «Iran’s reckless attacks, lashing out across the region and holding hostage the Strait of Hormuz, are a threat to British interests and British allies,» the U.K. Ministry of Defense said in a statement. «RAF jets and other U.K. military assets are continuing to defend our people and personnel in the region.»
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«This government has given permission to the U.S. to use British bases for specific and limited defensive operations,» it added.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
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Guatemala se prepara para recibir una cifra histórica de turistas salvadoreños durante la Semana Santa de 2026, según las proyecciones del Instituto Guatemalteco de Turismo (Inguat). La temporada, que se celebrará del domingo 29 de marzo al domingo 5 de abril, será clave para la reactivación del sector turístico en el país centroamericano, gracias a una nutrida afluencia de visitantes provenientes de El Salvador, el principal país emisor de turistas hacia Guatemala.
El Inguat estima que, durante estos días, arribarán a Guatemala cerca de 150,000 turistas internacionales, de los cuales un 53.3 % serán salvadoreños; es decir, alrededor de 80,000 personas. Esta cifra refleja la relevancia de El Salvador como mercado prioritario para la industria turística guatemalteca, consolidando una tendencia que se ha fortalecido en los últimos años. De hecho, los datos de la Corporación Salvadoreña de Turismo (Corsatur) indican que los salvadoreños que viajaron a Guatemala representaron el 60% del total de salidas internacionales registradas en 2025, lo que evidencia la preferencia por el país vecino como destino vacacional.
La campaña “Semana Santa es pausa”, presentada recientemente por el Inguat, busca atraer a los turistas salvadoreños con una propuesta que combina cultura, tradición y paisajes. Según información oficial difundida por la Agencia de Promoción Turística de Centroamérica (CATA Centroamérica), el lanzamiento de la oferta turística se realizó en un encuentro con prensa y creadores de contenido salvadoreños, a quienes se les informó sobre las rutas, actividades y servicios preparados especialmente para la temporada. Las autoridades guatemaltecas han dispuesto un plan de atención que incluye centros de información en lugares estratégicos como Ciudad Cayalá, el Palacio de la Cultura, Antigua Guatemala, Panajachel, Petén, Quetzaltenango y Esquipulas, así como un sistema de asistencia para los visitantes.
Este movimiento turístico se traduce en un importante impacto económico para Guatemala. El Inguat proyecta que la afluencia de turistas internacionales durante la Semana Santa generará $100 millones para la economía nacional, dinamizando especialmente los sectores de alojamiento, gastronomía, transporte y comercio local. La relevancia de los visitantes salvadoreños queda subrayada por las cifras de cierre de 2025, cuando Guatemala recibió más de 1.5 millones de turistas provenientes de El Salvador, equivalentes al 45.7% del total de llegadas internacionales y un crecimiento del 11.4 % respecto a 2024.
La preferencia de los salvadoreños por Guatemala responde a factores como la cercanía geográfica, la conectividad terrestre y la diversidad de atractivos turísticos. CATA Centroamérica, en sus recientes publicaciones, destaca que el interés de los salvadoreños por descubrir nuevos destinos se ve reforzado por la facilidad de los desplazamientos y la variedad de experiencias que ofrece Guatemala durante la Semana Mayor, desde recorridos por sitios históricos hasta actividades en entornos naturales y festividades religiosas.
Por su parte, la Corporación Salvadoreña de Turismo reportó que, en 2025, más de 2.5 millones de salvadoreños realizaron viajes internacionales por motivos turísticos, 113.792 más que el año anterior. De ese total, seis de cada diez eligieron Guatemala como su destino, consolidando así la histórica relación turística entre ambos países. Las autoridades salvadoreñas también reconocen el valor de esta interacción, que favorece el intercambio cultural y fortalece los lazos económicos en la región.
La campaña “Semana Santa es pausa” no solo busca posicionar a Guatemala como un destino seguro y atractivo para los salvadoreños, sino que también promueve la integración centroamericana a través del turismo. CATA Centroamérica resalta en sus comunicaciones que El Salvador se mantiene como el principal mercado emisor de visitantes hacia Guatemala, lo que refleja el creciente interés por redescubrir la oferta turística regional.
Con un despliegue logístico que incluye puntos de información, rutas recomendadas y asistencia personalizada, Guatemala aspira a ofrecer una experiencia memorable a los turistas salvadoreños y a superar sus propias expectativas en términos de recepción y atención al visitante durante la Semana Santa de 2026.
INTERNACIONAL
La guerra de Donald Trump contra Irán inquieta a los indecisos de cara a elecciones legislativas en EE.UU.
La guerra de Donald Trump contra Irán está influyendo en los votantes indecisos de Estados Unidos, un segmento clave que puede decidir si el mandatario republicano retiene o no el control del Congreso en las elecciones de medio término en noviembre.
Determinarán si Trump gobierna con un Congreso cooperativo o enfrenta una mayoría demócrata con poderes para bloquear proyectos de ley y lanzar investigaciones.
En un restaurante de Pensilvania, un estado bisagra donde los votantes no se inclinan totalmente por uno o por otro partido, había una mezcla de rabia y confusión por el nuevo conflicto.
«Trump solo nos está hundiendo en otra situación tipo Irak o Vietnam», dijo Jolene Lloyd, de 65 años, jubilada del servicio postal, al referirse a esas dos largas guerras que son vistas a menudo como un fracaso de Estados Unidos.
Lloyd nunca ha votado por Trump. Antes ha dividido su voto entre demócratas y republicanos, pero este año no, en noviembre, ella solo apoyará a los demócratas.
Los republicanos controlan de forma muy apretada el Congreso, donde todos los escaños de la Cámara y alrededor de un tercio del Senado están en juego. Incluso una pequeña pérdida de votos podría traerles problemas.
Con el costo de vida ya en la mente de muchos votantes, cualquier subida de precios por la guerra con Irán aparecerá en los ataques de campaña de los demócratas.
«Los precios de la gasolina obviamente se están yendo a las nubes… es un desastre total», dijo Lloyd mientras veía las noticias matutinas.
De acuerdo con una encuesta de la Universidad de Quinnipiac, los votantes independientes se oponen a la acción militar contra Irán en un 60%, contra un 31% a favor.
Esa división quedó patente cuando la AFP visitó Levittown, una zona obrera en las afueras de Filadelfia llena de concesionarios de autos y talleres mecánicos.
Sentado junto a Lloyd se encuentra el soldador Vince Lucisano, quien votó por Trump en 2024 y dice que ve a Irán como una amenaza para Estados Unidos.
«Estoy bien con esto, siempre que no haya tropas en el terreno. De ser así, me sentiré un poco más preocupado por el tema», dijo.
«Solo necesitamos manejarlo y básicamente poner a Irán en su lugar. Cuando se convierte en una guerra en toda regla, entonces empieza a dar un poco de miedo», añadió el hombre de 42 años.
Lucisano dijo que aún planea votar por los republicanos en noviembre a pesar de las dudas sobre el gasto de Trump en política exterior.
«El tipo que hizo campaña con ‘America First’ está tirando miles de millones al extranjero. Ahí no estamos poniendo a Estados Unidos primero amigo», comentó Lucisano.
La encuesta de la Universidad de Quinnipiac encontró que el 71% de los independientes cree que la administración Trump no ha dado una clara explicación de las razones para la intervención estadounidense en Irán.
Analistas dicen que los mensajes vagos pueden perjudicar a los republicanos de Trump en las elecciones de noviembre.
Christopher Borick, director del Instituto de Opinión Pública de Muhlenberg College en Pensilvania, señaló que el conflicto se suma a las preocupaciones existentes sobre el costo de vida y la inmigración.
«La administración pasa dificultades para presentar un caso convincente y claro a favor de las acciones militares en Irán y los efectos simultáneos en el costo de vida en Estados Unidos solo han agravado la frágil posición de los republicanos entre los independientes», explicó.
Bobby Marozzi, un empleado del restaurante, dijo que admira a Trump por actuar para que Irán no tenga armas nucleares, aún cuando no está seguro de cómo las acciones militares beneficiarán a los estadounidenses en el largo plazo.
«Si es pagando la gasolina cara y el supermercado caro durante los próximos cuatro años, está bien mientras el gobierno de Trump consiga que se haga algo», dijo el hombre de 37 años.
Marozzi explicó que puede sintonizar con una mentalidad al estilo «sin dolor no hay ganancia».
«Tenemos un dicho en el negocio de las comidas: ‘no puedes hacer una omelette sin romper algunos huevos’ ¿sabes?», dijo el empleado que no quiso hablar de su voto en las pasadas elecciones.
Jolene Lloyd, la jubilada que es cliente regular en el restaurante donde trabaja Marozzi, está mucho más lejos del compromiso con la guerra. «Tenemos que parar», asegura.
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