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Agartala, Tripura
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among the intended targets of joint Israeli-US strikes on Tehran on Saturday, according to reports citing Israel’s public broadcaster.
The broadcaster said Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian was also named among the targets of the attack.
“Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were among the targets of the attack,” the state broadcaster reported, according to international media accounts.
We obtained the first known satellite image of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's compound in Tehran. There are several destroyed buildings. While the current whereabouts of Iran's supreme leader are unknown, the compound is generally used as his official residence. 🛰️📸: @Airbus pic.twitter.com/48krjclMBL
— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) February 28, 2026
Initial strikes reportedly took place near offices linked to Khamenei.
According to reports, the 86-year-old leader was not in Tehran at the time and had been shifted to a secure location ahead of the attack.
Iranian state news agency IRNA later confirmed that President Pezeshkian survived the strikes.
Citing a source close to the presidency, IRNA said the president “is in good health” in a message posted on Telegram shortly after the attack.
The strikes marked a sharp escalation as Iran and Israel exchanged missiles on Saturday morning.
Tel Aviv, with support from the United States, launched what Israel described as a pre-emptive strike on Tehran.
In a statement, the Israeli military said an “additional barrage of missiles” had been fired towards Israel, triggering air defence responses across the country.
Israel’s armed forces said missile launches from Iran prompted widespread alerts.
“The Aerial Defence Array is currently identifying and intercepting threats. Sirens were sounded in several areas across the country following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward Israel,” the Israeli Air Force said in a post on X.
It added that the IAF was actively intercepting incoming threats and striking launch sites where necessary.
The conflict’s impact quickly spread across the Gulf region.
Bahrain’s interior ministry said emergency sirens sounded after a missile threat targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
Explosions were also reported in the UAE’s Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Qatar’s Doha and Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh.
All these cities host significant American military deployments.
Abu Dhabi is home to the Al Dhafra Air Base, shared by the UAE Air Force and the US Air Force, while Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port regularly hosts US Navy vessels and aircraft carriers.
Doha hosts the Al Udeid Air Base, the forward headquarters of US Central Command, and Saudi Arabia houses US troops at Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh.
Qatar said it successfully intercepted attacks targeting its territory.
“No damage has been reported, according to the initial field assessment. No casualties or material damage were recorded in residential areas,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement on X, urging the public to avoid unexploded debris.
Saudi Arabia strongly condemned what it called “the treacherous Iranian aggression”, describing the strikes as a “blatant violation of the sovereignty” of the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.
Riyadh warned Tehran of “grave consequences”.
US President Donald Trump announced “major combat operations” in Iran shortly after the strikes on Tehran.
He said the objective was to “defend the American people by removing imminent threats from Iran”.
Calling Iran the world’s “number one state sponsor of terror”, Trump said, “For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted, Death to America, and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops, and the innocent people in many, many countries.”
He also blamed Iran-backed Hamas for the October 7 attack on Israel, saying, “It was brutal, something like the world has never seen before.”
Iran’s foreign ministry issued an immediate and sharply worded response, condemning the US-Israel action as “criminal military aggression” carried out while diplomatic efforts were ongoing.
“The renewed military aggression of the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran is being committed while Iran and the United States were in the midst of a diplomatic process,” the ministry said in an English-language statement.
“Now is the time to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military aggression,” it added, warning that Iran’s armed forces would respond “with authority”.
Iran also urged the United Nations and the international community to “firmly condemn this act of aggression”, warning that it posed an unprecedented threat to regional and global peace and security.
