US, Israel attack Iran live: Israel claims Khamenei killed, Iran denies

February 28, 2026
Nils Adler and Joseph Stepansky

• Israeli officials and US President Donald Trump claim that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed. Iran denied the killing, with semi-official media saying he is “steadfast” in command of the field.
• Trump says the US has begun “major combat operations” in Iran after Israel also said it ⁠had launched missile attacks against the country.
  
• Multiple explosions were heard in Iran’s capital, Tehran, while blasts were also reported in several other locations across the country. A strike on a school in southern Iran has killed more than 80 people, according to state media.
• Iranian media reports, citing the Red Crescent, say at least 201 people have been killed across 24 provinces.
• Iran has retaliated, targeting Israel and US assets in multiple Middle East countries, including Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
• Several countries across the region have shut their airspace amid the exchange of attacks.

Death toll in Israeli attack on Iranian elementary school rises

Mizan News Agency, quoting the Minab Prosecutor’s Office, has reported that the number of casualties at the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab has reached 108.
 

‘Khamenei is dead’: Trump

US President Donald Trump says Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead.
He made the claim in a post on Truth Social where he reiterated his earlier message that this was “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country”.
 

Qatar Airways says flights to remain suspended

The airline has said that its flights will remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace.
“Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace,” it added, saing another update would be provided at 9am local time (06 GMT).
 

Bahrain decries ‘unprecedented escalation’ at Security Council

Bahrain has decried Iranian attacks on countries across the Gulf.
Jamal Fares Al-Ruwaie said Bahrain condemns the “unprecedented escalation”, saying it would deal with it “firmly”.
Al-Ruwaie also condemned strikes on Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Syria.
“These grave developments reflect an escalatory pattern targeting our collective security,” he said.
 

Israeli military says new wave of missiles headed towards Israel

The Israeli military says that there have been additional launches of missiles fired toward Israel.
We will bring you more information as we get it.
 

Several injured as crashes rock Tel Aviv’s Gush Dan metropolitan area

One man has been seriously injured and seven others wounded after multiple crash sites were reported in Tel Aviv’s largest metropolitan area, Gush Dan, according to Channel 12.
Several buildings and vehicles have also reportedly been damaged.
 

‘Iran has a transition plan if Supreme Leader Khamenei confirmed dead’

Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, has told Al Jazeera that Iran “has a plan” in place in the event that the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is confirmed to have been killed.
“There will probably be a council that will be set up to run the country. It may already have been running the country, as far as we know,” she said, adding that the real question is “how does Donald Trump define victory.”
“If killing the Supreme Leader is sufficient for him, he may just say, ‘Well, I won,’ and stop this in a day or so. That would be entirely characteristic. He can say that he achieved regime change, even if it’s basically the same system in place,” Slavin said.
Commenting on Israel’s attacks, Slavin called them as “theatrics,” saying that the Israelis are simply “enjoying an opportunity to hit everything they possibly can and degrade the Iranian regime even further.”
“As we know, Israel loves targeted assassinations and will be brandishing the scalp of Ayatollah Khamenei, so to speak, if he indeed is dead. Will it really be a change?”