Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed in US–Israel strike: A timeline of his 36-year rule

Iran’s iron-fisted supreme leader dies

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on February 28, 2026, in a joint United States–Israeli air strike that targeted his compound in Tehran, according to Iranian state media. He was 86. The strike came amid escalating hostilities following Israeli attacks on Iranian military and nuclear facilities earlier in the month. US President Donald Trump announced that a “major combat operation” had begun in Iran shortly before confirmation of Khamenei’s death.

His killing brought to an end 36 years at the helm of the Islamic Republic — decades in which he transformed Iran into a formidable anti-U.S. force, extended its military reach across the Middle East and suppressed repeated waves of dissent at home.

Khamenei had led the Islamic Republic since 1989, becoming Iran’s second Supreme Leader after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

From cleric’s son to revolutionary figure

Born in 1939 in Mashhad to a clerical family, Khamenei studied in the religious centres of Mashhad, Najaf and Qom. Unlike his father, described by nephew Mahmoud Moradkhani as someone who "came across as a modernist or progressive cleric", Khamenei embraced revolutionary Islamism. His father, Moradkhani added, "was not a part of the fundamentalists".

During the 1960s and 1970s, he was arrested multiple times by the Shah’s security services for anti-government activities. Imprisoned in 1963 and reportedly tortured, he emerged as a committed opponent of the monarchy.

On January 16, 1979, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi fled Iran. The Islamic Revolution later that year established the Islamic Republic under Khomeini.

War, presidency and rise to supreme leader

In 1980, after the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq war, Khamenei held senior posts including defence minister and supervisor of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In 1981, he survived an assassination attempt attributed to the Mojahedin-e Khalq and later that year was elected president. He served two terms during the eight-year war with Iraq.

Initially viewed as an unlikely successor to the charismatic Khomeini, he was once dismissed as weak and indecisive. Yet following Khomeini’s death in 1989, the Assembly of Experts appointed him Supreme Leader after revising constitutional requirements.

Khamenei was "an accident of history" who went from "a weak president to an initially weak supreme leader to one of the five most powerful Iranians of the last 100 years", Karim Sadjadpour at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told Reuters.

Consolidating power at home

As supreme leader, his word carried ultimate authority. He commanded the armed forces, appointed key officials and ensured no rival faction gained enough strength to challenge him.

During his leadership, the IRGC expanded its military and economic role. Reformist President Mohammad Khatami’s 1997 election raised hopes of change, but Khamenei maintained tight ideological control.

His authority faced major tests during protests in 1999 and 2002, and most dramatically in 2009, when disputed election results triggered the Green Movement. Security forces suppressed the unrest.

Further protests erupted in 2019 over fuel price increases and in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. He blamed Western enemies as security forces carried out sweeping crackdowns. Human rights groups reported hundreds of deaths.

In January 2026, as fresh protests resurfaced with chants of "Death to the dictator", Khamenei declared Iran would not "yield to the enemy".

Nuclear standoff and regional expansion

Khamenei consistently denied that Iran’s nuclear programme was intended to produce atomic weapons. In 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with world powers. The United States withdrew in 2018 and reinstated sanctions, after which Iran reduced compliance.

As Trump later pushed for a new agreement in 2025, Khamenei condemned "the rude and arrogant leaders of America", asking: "Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?"

Throughout his rule, he frequently referred to the United States as "the Great Satan".

Regionally, he expanded Iran’s influence by backing militias across Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen — the so-called “Axis of Resistance”. Under his watch, a long-running shadow war with Israel escalated.

In June 2025, Israel launched strikes on Iranian military and nuclear targets. Iran responded with missile attacks. Missile exchanges in 2024 and a 12-day conflict in 2025 drew in the United States.

On February 28, 2026, US and Israeli forces struck targets in Tehran, including Khamenei’s compound, resulting in his death.

An uncertain future

He leaves behind an Islamic Republic facing external pressure and internal discontent, particularly among younger Iranians.

"I just want to live a peaceful, normal life … Instead, they (the rulers) insist on a nuclear programme, supporting armed groups in the region, and maintaining hostility toward the United States," Mina, 25, told Reuters.

"Those policies may have made sense in 1979, but not today," she added. "The world has changed."

Under Iran’s constitution, the Assembly of Experts is responsible for appointing a new Supreme Leader.

(With inputs from Reuters)