Iran official warns of ‘mental warfare’ after Israeli reports of Khamenei’s death
A protester holds a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a protest against U.S. and Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran at a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the U.S. Embassy is located in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, on Feb. 28, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP
The head of public relations at the Iranian Supreme Leader’s office on Saturday (February 28, 2026) accused the country’s enemies of “mental warfare” after Israeli reports Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed, Iranian state media reported.
“The enemy is resorting to mental warfare, all should be aware,” the public relations official was quoted as saying.
A senior Israeli official told Reuters on Saturday that Mr. Khamenei was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said on Saturday (February 28, 2026) that there were many signs indicating Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “is no longer”, without explicitly confirming his death.
Mr. Netanyahu also said Mr. Khamenei’s compound had been destroyed.
Trump on Khamenei’s death
U.S. President Donald Trump told NBC News in an interview on Saturday (February 28, 2026) that he believes reports of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death are correct.
“We feel that that is a correct story,” Mr. Trump told NBC News in a phone interview, according to a report on its website.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the Iran conflict on Saturday (February 28, 2026) that he deeply regretted that an opportunity for diplomacy had been “squandered.”
He also told the 15-member body he was not in a position to confirm Israeli reports of the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Published – March 01, 2026 03:30 am IST
