Since the assassination of General Mohammad Bagheri in June 2025, Mr. Khamenei has almost completely disappeared. According to investigation reports, the 86-year-old cleric has withdrawn into a solid underground tunnel network, mainly at the Lavizan complex, northeast of Tehran.
In the rare pre-arranged speech videos, an unusual bump was seen under his missionary robe - a thick bulletproof vest.
The turning point occurred on the morning of February 28. The air strike operation began at 6 am (Israel time) when fighter jets took off, equipped with extremely high-precision long-range weapons. At exactly 9:40 am (Tehran time), long-range missiles simultaneously penetrated the defense system, aiming directly at the leadership complex.
At that time, senior Iranian national security officials were gathered at a building in the complex, while leader Ali Khamenei was present at another building nearby. The attack was carried out simultaneously at many locations in Tehran, completely destroying the headquarters of Iran's political and security apparatus.
Not only targeting buildings, the US and Israeli coalition also collected accurate coordinates of key intelligence officers, causing heavy losses to the senior leadership of the Iranian intelligence agency.
The Iranian state media's confirmation of Mr. Khamenei's death and the declaration of 40 days of national mourning officially closed the 37-year rule of this great leader.
Now, Iran is facing a huge power vacuum with 5 potential candidates, but as The Observer newspaper commented: "The legend of Khamenei has forever ended".
