The end of the nightmare. Joyful cries echoed in several neighborhoods of Tehran this Saturday evening, according to witnesses, after reports of the death of the supreme Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the Israeli-American attack on the country.
Residents applauded from their windows and played music while enthusiastic cheers rang out shortly after 11:00 p.m. local time in the streets of the Iranian capital, as reported by several witnesses.
Iran has not confirmed the information, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced shortly before that there were “many signs” indicating that the Iranian supreme leader had been killed on Saturday. Donald Trump announced his death shortly after on his Truth Social platform. According to an Israeli channel, a photo of the body was shown to Mr. Netanyahu and Trump.
In videos shared on social media and verified by AFP, whistles, cheers, and honking can be heard. However, according to social media reports, the population did not mass in the streets.
Traumatized by the bloody repression
Many Iranians have been fearful since the bloody repression of a large protest movement in January. Tensions between Tehran and Washington, sworn enemies, intensified after these protests.
Until now, Washington had favored the diplomatic path, while maintaining military pressure on Tehran with the deployment of a significant aero-naval force in the Gulf and the sending of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, to the Mediterranean. But Donald Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the negotiations initiated in early February.
The Iranian government had earlier sent SMS messages urging the approximately 10 million residents of Tehran to leave the capital, the center of several explosions in the morning.
