Iran has launched retaliatory strikes at United States air bases after joint attacks with Israel killed supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The “martyr” was killed in the ongoing Israel-U.S. strikes, according to an official statement.

The joint strikes, which Washington and West Jerusalem described as a “preemptive” operation, targeted the Iranian leadership.  Military and nuclear-related facilities have also been struck. Trump said the attack was aimed at destroying Iran’s missile industry and navy, as well as forcing regime change in Tehran, according to a report by RT. 

“The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a joint attack by the criminal America and the Zionist regime,” the official statement said.

Israel’s ruler, Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed that Khamenei’s compound was struck in a “powerful surprise attack” that killed him. Netanyahu also vowed that “thousands of targets” in the Iranian leadership would be killed in the coming days, and he called on Iranians to take to the streets and overthrow the government.

“At the moment of the martyrdom, he was carrying out his assigned duties and was present at his workplace, when this cowardly attack occurred,” it added. The U.S. and Israel claimed that Khamenei had been hiding in a secure location. Iran rejected those claims.

It looks like U.S. ruler Donald Trump has followed through with his idea of killing “scores of Iranian political and military leaders.”

Trump Considers Killing “Scores of Iranian Political and Military Leaders”

“This great crime will never go unanswered and will mark a new chapter in the history of the Islamic and Shiite world,” President Masoud Pezeshkian’s office said in a statement, announcing 40 days of public mourning. “With full force and strength… we will make the perpetrators and commanders of this great crime regret their actions,” he added, according to a report by RT. 

Back in January, the U.S. and Israel both declared that they were ready for a war with Iran.

Iran, Israel, And The United States All Say That They Are Ready For War

Tehran also declared a readiness for war.