The successor to Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, Ali Khamenei embodied the Islamic Republic, setting its political course both domestically and abroad. Over the course of his rule, and faced with the country's isolation, he chose to harden the regime and brutally repress any dissent. He died on Saturday, February 28, at the age of 86.

“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

A senior Israeli official told Reuters that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes.