As the smoke was still clearing over Tehran, one question dominated the region and Washington alike: Did they get him?

In the immediate aftermath of the Israel-U.S. strikes, with the Israeli Air Force targeting senior Iranian leadership infrastructure, rumors swirled that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 86-year-old supreme leader, had been killed.

Satellite images showed heavy damage to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s fortified compound, including buildings believed to house his residence and the so-called House of Leadership. Parts of the complex appeared reduced to rubble.

Regional reports indicated a high-level meeting of Khamenei’s top lieutenants may have been underway when the strike hit. Iranian semi-official media also reported missiles struck near the presidential palace and other leadership sites north of the capital.

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)

Addressing the nation on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Hebrew, «There are more and more signs indicating Khamenei is gone.»

Israeli officials told Fox News Digital they were still assessing the results and said it was too early to confirm the fate of the 86-year-old supreme leader. They did not rule out the possibility that he was killed.

Iranian officials, however, insisted the country’s leadership — including Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian — remained safe, according to The Guardian, despite what they described as an assassination attempt. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the BBC that he was not in a position to confirm whether Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been eliminated.

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In this picture released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stands as army air force staff salute at the start of their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. Khamenei is defending «Death to America» chants that are standard fare at anti-U.S. rallies across Iran but says the chanting is aimed at America’s leaders and not its people.  (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

The long-serving cleric has survived decades of internal unrest, assassination plots and foreign pressure. He rarely appears in public without layers of security and is believed to operate through a tightly controlled network of loyalists embedded across Iran’s military, intelligence and political institutions.

In an exclusive Fox News Digital report earlier this week, researchers described how Khamenei runs what amounts to a parallel state within Iran’s formal government structure.

«The Bayt is the hidden nerve center of the regime in Iran… it operates as a state within a state,» Kasra Aarabi, director of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) research at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital.

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Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Even if Khamenei himself were removed, Aarabi warned, the institutional machinery he built — involving roughly 4,000 core staff and a broader network of tens of thousands — could continue functioning.

«Even if he is eliminated, the Bayt as an institution enables the Supreme Leader to function,» Aarabi said. «Think of the Supreme Leader as an institution rather than just a single individual.»

That reality complicates the picture.

For decades, Khamenei has positioned himself not merely as a political leader but as the apex of a system designed to survive shocks — whether from protests at home or military pressure abroad.

The 86-year-old cleric has faced repeated waves of unrest, including mass protests in 2009, 2022 and again in early 2026. Each time, his regime cracked down forcefully, consolidating control rather than fracturing.

He has also weathered years of covert operations, cyber campaigns and targeted strikes against key Iranian figures across the region.

Still, the scale of the latest strike appears unprecedented.

If confirmed dead, Khamenei’s killing would mark the most significant decapitation of Iranian leadership since the 1979 revolution. It would also raise immediate questions about succession inside a system he carefully engineered to avoid sudden collapse.

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A person holds an image of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iranian demonstrators protest against the U.S.-Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 28, 2026.  (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

If he survived, it would reinforce his reputation for resilience — and underscore how difficult it is to eliminate the core of Iran’s power structure.

For now, officials say assessments are ongoing, and the question may be answered in the very near future.

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Arab nations are sounding off against Iran after the regime launched strikes against U.S. interests in neighboring countries in the region in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli joint strikes against Iran’s leaders.

The Iranian response targeted all U.S. bases in the Gulf, except for U.S. bases in Oman, Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reported, since the Omani foreign minister had tried to mediate the nuclear talks in Geneva, even flying to Washington, D.C., to meet Vice President JD Vance at the White House on Friday to try to avert what is quickly turning into a regional war.

Griffin reported that approximately 40 missiles had landed in Israel. Meanwhile, the U.S. military in Iraq intercepted at least one missile targeting U.S. facilities. Additionally, Iran appeared to hit the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, but no casualties were reported.

Iran also launched missiles at Saudi Arabia and Jordan, where the U.S. has squadrons of advanced fighter jets, Griffin reported.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates were among the Gulf states that condemned the Iranian strikes, with many saying they reserve the right to defend themselves and respond accordingly to attacks on their sovereign territories.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said it reserves its «full right» to defend itself after what it described as Iranian aggression targeting Qatari territory. Its Defense Ministry said it «successfully thwarted a number of attacks targeting the country’s territory» after multiple rounds of alerts sounded. Authorities reported no immediate injuries or damage in residential areas.

The locations of U.S. military bases throughout the Gulf are seen in relation to Iran. (Fox News)

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said it affirmed «its full solidarity with and unwavering support for the brotherly countries» and warned of «grave consequences resulting from the continued violation of states’ sovereignty and the principles of international law.»

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The United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Defense said the country «was subjected to a blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles,» adding that air defense systems «successfully intercepted a number of missiles.» Authorities said falling debris in a residential area caused «one civilian death of an Asian nationality» and material damage.

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reported that Iran appeared to hit the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, but no casualties were reported. (Fox News)

The ministry called the attack «a dangerous escalation and a cowardly act that threatens the safety of civilians and undermines stability,» and stated the UAE «reserves its full right to respond.»

Jordan’s foreign minister wrote a series of posts on X, saying that King Abdullah II «condemns the attack on the territories of Jordan, and any attacks on Arab countries,» expressing Jordan’s «solidarity with the brotherly Arab countries in confronting any aggressions that affect their sovereignty, security, and stability.»

Lebanon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it also «strongly condemns the Iranian attacks,» adding that it «affirms its full solidarity with these fellow Arab States and firmly rejects any violation of their sovereignty, any threat to their security, or any action undermining their stability.»

Smoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.  (REUTERS/Stringer)

Meanwhile, the Omani Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran.

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«The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Sultanate of Oman’s profound regret over the military operations launched by Israel and the United States of America against the Islamic Republic of Iran, warning of the danger of the conflict expanding into consequences that cannot be rectified in the region,» the Omani Foreign Ministry said in a statement, according to X’s translation.

«The Sultanate of Oman considers this action to be in contravention of the rules of international law and the principle of resolving issues through peaceful means rather than hostile means, the shedding of blood, and calls on all parties to immediately suspend military operations, while urging the United Nations Security Council to convene an urgent meeting to impose a ceasefire and for the international community to take a clear stance in support of international law,» it added.

Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.