Updated February 28, 2026 at 10:54 AM HST
TEL AVIV, Israel, WASHINGTON, D.C., and AMMAN, Jordan — Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed by an Israeli strike, a person briefed on the strike told NPR, after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack Saturday against Iran as part of a major military campaign intended to topple the Islamic regime.
The NPR source requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Neither the U.S. nor Iran have announced his death.
The wave of airstrikes began after sunrise in Iran, with huge explosions ringing out in the capital Tehran. Videos showed large plumes of thick smoke.
Iran's Foreign Ministry called the attack a "gross violation" of its national sovereignty. A statement said the airstrikes hit both military and civilian targets.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society relief group said more than 200 people were killed in strikes across Iran.
"They have hit many targets around me and we hear fighter jets and missiles exploding," said a resident in western Tehran reached by phone before communications were cut in Iran. Like other Iranian residents interviewed by NPR, they did not want to use their names for fear of arrest. "People were panicking and trying to get to their homes. Children are running out of school."
Iranian state media said one of the airstrikes hit a girls' primary school in southern Iran, killing at least 85 children, according to the local prosecutors office. The prosecutors said more girls were still buried under the rubble. Saturday is the start of the Iranian school and work week. NPR is asking Israeli and U.S. officials for comment on the school attack.
Iran responded with missile and drone launches of its own, spreading the conflict to the wider region. Air raid sirens wailed in Israel as it came under attack. Several countries in the Gulf also reported Iranian strikes, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. The Jordanian government, which also hosts major U.S. military bases, reported it downed 49 drones and ballistic missiles threatening its territory.
"Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people," President Trump said in an eight-minute video posted on Truth Social.
Tense lead-up to the strikes
The joint U.S.-Israeli attack — called "Epic Fury" by the Pentagon and "Roaring Lion" by Israel — came after weeks of escalating tensions and a major U.S. military buildup in the region. The U.S. had said it was trying to negotiate a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program, holding the most recent round of talks on Thursday in Geneva. But Trump said those efforts had failed.
In the run-up to the military strike, analysts speculated on whether Trump might choose a brief, limited attack — as he has done previously in Iran and many other cases over the past year — or if he would opt for a more expansive operation. The initial impression — and the president's own words — pointed to a large-scale, open-ended bombardment.
"We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated," Trump said, adding, "We're going to annihilate their navy."
The president claims Iran was rebuilding its nuclear program ahead of the attack — Trump had often said the program was "totally obliterated" in the U.S. and Israeli attacks last June.
Trump also told the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to surrender: "Lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death."
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The International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitored Iran's program for years, as well as other nuclear experts, have said there's no evidence that Iran has resumed the enrichment of uranium, the centerpiece of the program.
Prior to launching the attack, Trump said he preferred a negotiated deal, but would also welcome regime change. Otherwise, he offered little insight into his ultimate goal in Iran.
But in his video, he made clear that he wants Iran's Shia Muslim leadership, which has ruled for 47 years, to fall.
Speaking directly to the Iranian people, he told them to take shelter for now, while bombing is taking place. Then, he added, "When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations."
However, the Iranian security forces brutally suppressed mass street protests last month. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activist News Agency says more than 7,000 people were killed. Trump has put the death toll at 32,000 without citing his source.
A Tehran resident reached by NPR said Saturday that internal security forces were flooding the streets in some residential neighborhoods.
"Many of them are on the streets on motorbikes, showing off their guns," she said. "They want to create fear."
There's no sign the U.S. will send ground troops into Iran, and military analysts say it will be extremely difficult to topple the government with air power alone.
Therefore, it's impossible to say whether Iran's leadership might be vulnerable to a domestic uprising, or if it would be able to crush protests as it did earlier this year.
Hundreds of targets struck
Israel's military says it completed its biggest air force operation in the country's history, with about 200 fighter jets hitting about 500 targets in western and central Iran, including aerial defense systems and missile launchers, expanding Israel's aerial superiority over Iran.
An Israeli military official told reporters that the U.S. and Israeli militaries spent months building up an extensive bank of targets in Iran and were looking for the right moment to strike when senior Iranian officials would meet. The official said three separate gatherings of senior officials were struck simultaneously Saturday morning. The official said several central government figures were killed, without identifying them.
Another person briefed on the strikes said Israel's assessment is that Supreme Leader Khamenei was hit.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News earlier Saturday that Khamenei and Iran's president were still alive "as far as I know," as were other top officials.
The military said the operation was conducted with "full synchronization and coordination" between the Israeli and U.S. militaries.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said the goal of the joint U.S.-Israeli attack is to "remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran."
"Our joint action will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands," Netanyahu said in a video.
A person briefed on the operation told NPR it was expected to last a few days, with Israel's military focusing on targeting Iran's missile program.
Israel has closed its airspace to all passenger flights, and civil defense protocols have been activated. Regional military forces remain on high alert.
A 48-hour state of emergency was declared nationwide. Air raid sirens sounded across Israel, with authorities warning civilians to enter bomb shelters.
Trails of smoke streaked the sky above Tel Aviv as Israeli interception systems fired at incoming missiles. A hospital in central Israel began moving operations to an underground fortified compound.
In the Gulf, several countries offered details on Iranian attacks.
Bahrain's government said an Iranian airstrike hit the U.S. naval base that is home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet.
The United Arab Emirates, another U.S. ally, said it intercepted Iranian missiles. It said shrapnel from one of the missiles killed a national of an unspecified Asian country in Abu Dhabi.
Aya Batrawy contributed reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Rebecca Rosman contributed from Paris.
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