A grieving Russian President Vladimir Putin mourned the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claiming Sunday it was “a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.”
Putin sent his public condolences to his Iranian counterpart, promising Khamenei will be remembered “as an outstanding statesman” who helped elevate Russian-Iranian relations, AP reports.
In Lebanon, the leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, Naim Kassem, also lamented Khamenei’s death in a U.S.-Israeli strike.
He said retribution can be expected.
“We will fulfill our duty in confronting aggression,” the Islamic terrorist leader vowed promising Hezbollah will not abandon its resistance of confronting American and Israeli “tyranny.”
AP further reports Israel’s military said Sunday its strikes had killed 40 top Iranian military officials, including the armed forces’ chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi. Neither Iran nor the U.S. immediately commented on the claim.
It comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday the joint Israeli-U.S. attack killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as Breitbart News reported.
President Trump: Ayatollah Khamenei is dead pic.twitter.com/cnxoQHKt9P
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) February 28, 2026
In a post on Truth Social, Trump described this moment as being the “single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.”
Trump’s post came after multiple reports surfaced that Khamenei, 86, who had been in “control of the Islamic Republic of Iran” since 1989, was killed.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote. “This is 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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
