Reuters. Ali Shamkhani, Iran's top adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was in U.S. and Israeli strikes, Iranian state media confirmed on Sunday (March 1), after the United States and Israel launched the most ambitious attack on Iranian targets in decades.
The 70-year-old former Revolutionary Guard commander is a trusted adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a high-stakes standoff with the U.S. that could determine whether the Islamic Republic, born from revolution in 1979, survives to half a century.
A veteran of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war when the newly created Islamic Republic battled for survival, Shamkhani has served as a political adviser to Khamenei since his 2023 departure from the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
Khamenei was also killed on Saturday (February 28), state media confirmed, after the United States and Israel launched the most ambitious attack on Iranian targets in decades.
Iranian state media announced Khamenei's death early on Sunday. A senior Israeli official told Reuters earlier that the Iranian leader's body had been found after a strike and U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States worked closely with Israel to target the man who led Iran since 1989.
Three sources familiar with the matter said Iranian Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour were among those killed in the attacks.
Israel's military said it had confirmed that five other senior military commanders were also dead, including Shamkhani. Iranian media had said Khamenei's daughter, grandchild, son-in-law and daughter-in-law were also killed.
