Trump: 'One of the Most Evil People in History' Is Dead

President Trump announced on Saturday that the attacks on Iran by the US and Israel have killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the nation's supreme leader for nearly four decades. "Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead," Trump wrote on Truth Social. The killing could have a sweeping impact on Iran and the region, the New York Times reports. In an interview with ABC News, Trump said US intelligence indicates that much of the Iranian leadership "is gone," per the AP. He called Khamenei's death "justice" for the scores of killings he was responsible for, per NBC News.

"He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do," Trump wrote. Israeli security officials told the Washington Post that Khamenei, 86, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his Tehran compound in Tehran. Khamenei had led the Islamic Republic since 1989 as not only its highest political and religious authority, but as the main figure controlling military and nuclear strategy.

• Axios lists other Iranian officials whose deaths have been confirmed here.