On Saturday, the Israeli military stated it had killed dozens of members of Iran’s leadership during extensive, coordinated strikes in Iran—including the Supreme Leader

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) noted it had across Tehran “where senior officials of the Iranian defense establishment had gathered.”

A senior Israeli security official informed that over 40 high-ranking Iranian security and regime figures were eliminated in the strikes.

The official added that this was among the largest regime “decapitation operations” conducted in modern warfare history. He explained that Israeli intelligence successfully infiltrated the Iranian security echelon, making the strikes possible.

According to the IDF, those killed included Ali Shamkhani—secretary of the who was also a personal advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader.

The IDF said Mohammad Pakpour (also killed) had served as commander of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps since Operation ‘Rising Lion’ and was one of the leaders of the “destruction of Israel” plan.

Per the IDF, additional fatalities included Saleh Asadi (head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Khatam al-Anbiya emergency command), Mohammad Shirazi (head of the Military Bureau of the Supreme Leader since 1989), Iran’s Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Hossein Jabal Amelian (who chaired an organization advancing nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons projects), and Reza Mozaffari-Nia (who previously chaired the same organization).

President Donald Trump also confirmed on Saturday that Khamenei was killed in the strikes. 

In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS.”

All the leaders had gathered at a compound in Tehran on Saturday morning.

Multiple sources told that the strikes were moved up due to a “target of opportunity”—which is why they occurred during daytime in Iran, preserving the element of surprise. One source said: “There was a deliberate decision to accelerate the timeline.”

A senior US defense official told : “This was a massive, wildly bold daytime attack. It caught the senior leadership off guard, a Saturday morning during Ramadan and on Shabbat in the daytime.”

The source added: “We hit the senior leaders right out of the gate.”