A visibly shaken Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly mourned the reported death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday, denouncing the strike that killed him as a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law."
According to Breitbart, Putin issued formal condolences to his Iranian counterpart, praising Khamenei as an outstanding statesman who, he claimed, had strengthened ties between Moscow and Tehran, as relayed by the Associated Press (AP). The Russian leaders remarks underscored the deepening strategic partnership between the two authoritarian regimes, a relationship that has long troubled Western policymakers.
In Lebanon, the head of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization, Naim Kassem, likewise lamented Khameneis death in what he described as a U.S.-Israeli strike. He warned that retaliation was inevitable, signaling the potential for further escalation across the region.
We will fulfill our duty in confronting aggression, the Hezbollah chief vowed, promising his group would not abandon its campaign of violence against the West and its allies. He pledged continued resistance to what he called American and Israeli tyranny, rhetoric that has long been used to justify terror attacks and destabilization efforts.
AP further reports that Israels military announced Sunday it had killed 40 senior Iranian military officials, including the armed forces chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi. Neither Iran nor the United States immediately commented on the Israeli claim, leaving key operational details unconfirmed.
The developments followed President Donald Trumps statement Saturday that a joint Israeli-U.S. operation had eliminated Khamenei, as Breitbart News previously reported. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump hailed the strike as the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.
Trumps remarks came after multiple reports that Khamenei, 86, who had been in control of the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1989, was killed in the operation. Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead, Trump wrote, calling the event 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.
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 added, framing the mission as a decisive triumph for U.S. and Israeli security cooperation. As Irans proxies threaten revenge and its allies mourn a theocratic strongman, the central question now is whether the Iranian people will seize what Trump calls a historic opening to challenge a regime long defined by repression, terrorism, and hostility to the West.
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