President Trump says Iran’s supreme leader is dead
UPDATE (3:50 PM): President Donald Trump has announced the death of Iran's supreme leader on social media Saturday.
President Trump posted that the Ayatollah Ali Kamenei was killed in the pre-dawn assault on the country he ruled for 36 years.
Trump called it justice for the people of iran, and also people all over the world who have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and "his gang of bloodthirsty thugs."
Khamenei has led the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1989.
Trump has also said that most of Iran's senior leadership is also gone, and Iranian officials have not confirmed the news of Khamenei's death.
The president also said the bombing in Iran "will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve peace" in the Middle East and the world.
According to two sources with knowledge of the matter, Trump Administration officials plan to brief key members of Congress on the attack on Iran Sunday.
(NBC, KYMA) - The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran Saturday, with President Donald Trump calling on the Iranian public to "seize control of your destiny" and rise up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the nation since 1979.
Iran responded to the latest strikes as it had been threatening to do for months, first launching a wave of missiles and drones targeting Israel.
It followed with strikes targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
The United Arab Emirates and Iraq shut down their airspace.
In Israel, a building was damaged Saturday following an Israeli interception said to be of an Iranian missile.
Video showed police and rescue personnel evacuating residents from the building.
The U.S. and Israel had earlier launched a major attack on targets across Iran Saturday.
President Trump called on the Iranian people to "take over your government," an extraordinary appeal that suggested the allies could be seeking to end of the country's theocracy after decades of tensions.
The first strikes of the attack appeared to target the compound home to Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in downtown Tehran. It wasn't immediately clear if he was there at the time.
Smoke could be seen rising from the Iranian capital. The attack quickly expanded beyond Iran.
Targets in the Israeli campaign included Iran's military, symbols of government and intelligence targets.
Iran's paramilitary revolutionary guard said it responded by "launching a first wave" of drones and missiles targeting Israel, where a nationwide warning was issued as the military said it bring down Iranian fire.
Witness video from Bahrain showed smoke billowing from the direction of the U.S. Naval Base in Manama. Bahrain said that the service center of the U.S. Fifth Fleet had been subjected to a missile attack.
Smoke seen in the video is coming from the direction of the U.S. Naval Base in Manama, Bahrain.
Sirens sounded out across Kuwait Saturday, home to U.S. Army Central. There was no immediate word on any damage.
Several Gulf Arab states said they were targeted by Iranian missiles Saturday after Tehran pledged to retaliate against strikes by the U.S. and Israel, bringing conflict to a part of the Arab world that prides itself on relative safety.
