Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi Says U.S.-Israeli Strikes Left Khamenei Alive

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that Iran’s president and supreme leader were alive “as far as I know” after overnight U.S.-Israeli strikes included targets near government compounds.

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Araghchi told NBC News, “As far as I know, yes, they are alive and the head of judiciary as well, the Speaker of parliament as well,” when asked specifically of President Masoud Pezeshkian and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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The Hill reported that U.S. and Israeli officials later said they believe Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday as part of the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran.

Araghchi said Iran began its retaliation around two hours after the initial strikes on nearby American bases in neighboring Gulf states and characterized the situation on the ground thus far as “under control.”

He added, “I think Americans and Israelis failed to … hit their targets,” and said Iran intended to target American bases “in the act of self-defense.”

The PBS live updates described a joint U.S. and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites, with President Donald Trump saying the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” was to continue through the week or as long as necessary.

The PBS report said the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency will convene a special session at its headquarters in Vienna on Monday morning following a request from the Russian Federation.

The Hill

In a diplomatic note dated Feb. 28 and seen by the Associated Press, Russia’s Permanent Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna requested the convening of the special session “on matters related to military strikes of the United States and Israel against the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

During the emergency Security Council session, PBS quoted Tehran’s diplomat to the U.N. telling U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz, “I advise to the representative of the United States to be polite.”

Waltz responded immediately, saying, “representing a regime that has killed tens of thousands of its own people.”

Arabic21 said Iranian armed forces began launching attacks on American bases and interests in the Middle East, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announcing targeting several American bases in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain.

“Why has Iran not delivered painful strikes against Israel despite having the capability”

Rai al-Youm

Arabic21 also cited figures from the U.S. Department of Defense (the Pentagon) saying there are about 40,000 American troops currently in the Middle East.

It reported that the Bahrain News Agency confirmed that a service center belonging to the U.S. Fifth Fleet was hit by a rocket attack, and that explosions echoed in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi and in Kuwait with sirens sounding after the blasts.

The Qatari Ministry of Defense announced that all missiles targeting the country had been intercepted, while the French news agency reported explosions heard in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

In a separate Arabic opinion piece, the author argued that “Whoever hosts American bases participating in the war and intelligence efforts against Iran has no right to speak about its sovereignty,” and insisted, “Iran must continue to pound the fortresses of tyranny.”