Image source, Getty Images

Born in the north-eastern city of Mashhad in 1939, the son of a religious scholar, Ali Khamenei joined the religious opposition movement of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1962.

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Ali Khamenei became deputy defence minister and helped organise the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).

When Khomeini died in June 1989, the Assembly of Experts - a council of clerics - chose Ali Khamenei to be the new supreme leader, changing the constitution to allow him to take charge even though he had not achieved the required rank among Shia clerics.

Ayatollah Khamenei has maintained a firm grip on Iran's politics and its armed forces ever since, suppressing challenges to the ruling system, sometimes violently.

He also consistently taken hard-line stances on external matters, including the ongoing confrontation with the United States, of whom he remained suspicious. He had also repeatedly called for the elimination of the State of Israel - publicly questioning whether the Holocaust occurred.

There have been seven presidents of Iran to serve during the rule of Khamenei, who has six children.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

As we just reported, Iran's state TV has announced 40 days of public mourning and seven days of public holiday over the death of Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader.

At the moment, Iran's state TV news channel IRINN is showing photos of Khamenei with recital of Quran in the background, with a black banner on the top left corner.

The presenter previously read a statement by Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) officially confirming the death of Khamenei, blaming the US and Israel for his death. The statement said that Khamenei's "martyrdom" will be the beginning of "an uprising in the fight against the oppressors".

Earlier, state media said that Khamenei's daughter, son-in-law and grandchild were also killed in the attacks.

According to the Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, there are reports that one of Khamenei's daughters-in-law has been killed as well.

Image source, IRINN

With a statement from Iran's Supreme National Security Council, several state media outlets in Iran have confirmed Ayatollah Khamenei's death.

US President Donald Trump hours earlier said the Supreme Leader had been killed during a joint attack with Israel on several locations across Iran.

In the statement, there was no mention of how the 86-year-old died, nor of who might take over as leader.

Our colleagues are working on translating and bringing you the top lines of that address.

In a tearful address, one state TV presenter announcing Khamenei's death said the country will enter 40 days of mourning.

Iranian state TV has just confirmed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead.

We'll bring you more information as it comes.

More from the UN Security Council's emergency meeting earlier.

China's envoy Fu Cong said the country is deeply concerned by strikes on Iran by the US and Israel, expressing concern about reports of civilian casualties.

He called for an immediate cessation of military action in the region to prevent further escalation.

"At all times, the red line for protecting civilians in armed conflict must not be crossed, and the indiscriminate use of force is unacceptable," he said, calling on all parties to fulfill their obligations under international law and humanitarian law.

China is ready to work with the international community to unite efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East as soon as possible, he added.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Traveling with the President

While the traveling press pool has not seen Donald Trump today, the US President has been busy calling various American networks throughout the course of the day.

In a call with Bob Costa of CBS - the BBC's US partner - Trump said that the US is "doing well" so far in the strikes, and that a diplomatic solution remains "easily" within reach.

"Much easier now than it was a day ago, obviously, because they are getting beaten up badly," he added.

The US has been pressuring Iran to agree to conditions on its nuclear programme, threatening military action when the latest round of talks ended this week without a deal.

Trump says Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been killed in the attack - though Iranian officials are yet to confirm this. On the call, Trump declined to comment on who he believes is leading Iran.

However, he said he has "good candidates" in mind he would like to see in charge.

An intelligence source and a military source have told the BBC's media partner, CBS News, that around 40 Iranian officials were killed in the strikes.

It is unclear if the officials were in one location or multiple.

They claimed that Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was among the dead, as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander and the defence minister. Iran is yet to confirm widespread reports of Khamenei's death.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's daughter, son-in-law and grandchild have been killed in the attacks, the Fars News Agency - which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - has said in a report, quoting "informed sources" in the Supreme Leader's office.

Fars has also reported that "it has been said that one of Khamenei's daughters-in-law has been killed" in the attacks too.

There had been some reports circulating earlier on the death of Khamenei's daughter-in-law and son-in-law, which were later denied.

Iranian officials are yet to confirm the death of Iran's Supreme Leader himself.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say they have thwarted dozens of missile launches aimed at Israel and have completed another wave of strikes on ballistic missile and air defence systems in Iran.

The strikes were aimed at targets in western and central Iran and included several launch sites which had not yet been struck, the IDF said in a statement to the BBC.

"The completed strikes improve the Israeli Air Force’s freedom of action and prevent numerous launches and missiles that posed a threat to the citizens of the State of Israel and the broader Middle East."

"[The IDF] continues to degrade the missile array and air defense systems of the Iranian terror regime."

Image source, Reuters

Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, says hundreds of people have been killed or injured in the US and Israel's “unprovoked and premeditated aggression against Iran".

Speaking at the UN's Security Council emergency meeting, he says that includes more than 100 children killed in an explosion at a school in Minab, southern Iran.

"The number of innocent civilians continues to rise. This is not only an act of aggression, it is a war crime and a crime against humanity," Iravani says.

There has been no confirmation by the two Western countries of the attack on the school - located near a base of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has been the target of the strikes.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from West Palm Beach

The White House travelling press pool, which today includes the BBC, has been told that we won't see or hear from President Trump this evening.

But that doesn't mean that he is done for the day.

Just a short while ago, we were informed by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt that Trump still intends to attend a fundraiser being held this evening at Mar-a-Lago for the Republican Party.

This party, Leavitt added, "is more important than ever".

We have been pressing the White House for more details on Trump's plans for tomorrow, but have yet to receive any word.

The United Arab Emirates has condemned Iran's attacks on its territory, calling it a "violation of national sovereignty and international law".

In a post on X, the UAE calls Iran's retaliatory strikes a dangerous escalation and "cowardly act" that threatens the safety of civilians and undermines stability.

Its defence ministry says it is on "high alert" and ready to deal with any threats.

It adds that its defence forces have intercepted 137 ballistic missiles and 209 drones launched toward the country. Fourteen of the drones that fell within the country's territories and waters caused "some collateral damage", it says.

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

There has been a swirl of reports on the status of Iran's supreme leader since this morning, when it was clear that his residence had been targeted in the first strikes.

Satellite images showed significant damage to his compound. The first response from Iran was that he had been taken to a safe place. Then came a report that the 86-year-old cleric was to speak on state television, but nothing materialised.

By early evening, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised address used an expression that the supreme leader was "gone" - but he didn't say Khamenei was "dead".

But a series of reports on Israeli and US media, quoting unnamed officials, left no doubt about his fate.

All the while, Iranian officials have continued to deny it. One presenter on Iranian state television, without mentioning Khamenei's name, told the Iranian people to ignore the "enemy’s psychological propaganda". It is hard to ignore this latest social media post from Donald Trump.

It may be that Iranian officials are preparing to make an announcement with a certain amount of ceremony. It may be that Iran's Assembly of Experts is already meeting or preparing to do so - they are charged with the responsibility of choosing a new supreme leader.

These are absolutely defining moments in the turbulent history of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its hostile relationship with Israel and the US.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from West Palm Beach

Trump's Truth Social post announcing the Ayatollah's death suggests he already sees this as a victory - and perhaps the start of what would be a relatively quick campaign.

Although he left open the possibility of a lengthier campaign, the week's worth of strikes he mentioned would be shorter than the 12 days of Israeli airstrikes in Iran last year, and far shorter than previous US air campaigns in Iraq in 1991 or Kosovo in 1999.

There are, however, many unanswered questions.

For one, Trump has now suggested - more than once - that he sees this as an opportunity for the Iranian people to "take back" the country.

But he hasn't made clear who exactly he sees running the country if the Islamic Republic in its current form were to fall.

Trump has previously questioned whether the exiled Crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi, has the support needed to govern.

For the administration, any long and protracted conflict is likely to have important domestic reverberations, particularly as the president campaigned on a promise of ending long, drawn-out conflicts abroad.

In the coming days and week, we're likely to hear him and his political allies make the case that this is something different - an example of what he often terms "peace through strength".

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will no longer travel to Israel on Monday "due to current circumstances", his office says.

The state department said yesterday Rubio's was heading to Israel to discuss a range of topics, including Iran.

"Due to current circumstances, Secretary Rubio will no longer travel to Israel on March 2," a spokesperson says.

Two videos confirmed to show celebrations in Iranpublished at 22:27 GMT 28 February

22:27 GMT 28 February

By Shayan Sardarizadeh and Ghoncheh Habibiazad

BBC Verify has confirmed three videos showing celebrations in the cities of Karaj and Tehran tonight following unconfirmed reports of the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in strikes by Israel and the US.

One clip, filmed in a residential district near the city of Karaj, external, shows a group of residents dancing and cheering on the street, while cars sound their horns.

The first of the four videos in this X post, external, filmed from an apartment in a residential block in the Ekbatan district, west Tehran, shows a number of residents cheering and clapping from the windows of their homes.

A reverse search brings no earlier results for either clip, and further checks show no sign of manipulation with artificial intelligence.

In another video, a man shouts "I'm dreaming, hello new world!" and the crowd is seen celebrating in the southern Fars province while taking down a sign of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Image source, Getty Images

Born in the north-eastern city of Mashhad in 1939, the son of a religious scholar, Ali Khamenei joined the religious opposition movement of Ayatollah Khomeini against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1962.

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Ali Khamenei became deputy defence minister and helped organise the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC)

After the death of Khomeini in June 1989, the Assembly of Experts (a council of clerics) chose Ali Khamenei to be the new supreme leader, even though he had not achieved the required rank among Shia clerics that the constitution stipulated - marja-e taqlid (source of emulation) or grand ayatollah.

To rectify the situation, the constitution was amended to say the supreme leader had to show "Islamic scholarship", enabling Ali Khamenei to become ayatollah and be selected as supreme leader.

He has maintained a firm grip on Iran's politics and its armed forces, and suppressed challenges to the ruling system, sometimes violently.

Ayatollah Khamenei has also consistently taken hard-line stances on external matters, including the ongoing confrontation with the United States.

He has remained suspicious of relations with the West, particularly the US, and has also repeatedly called for the elimination of the State of Israel and publicly questioned whether the Holocaust occurred.

There have been seven presidents of Iran to serve during the rule of Khamenei, who has six children.

Image source, EPA

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah (king), has welcomed the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Ali Khamenei, the bloodthirsty Zahhak [an evil king in Iranian mythology] of our time, the killer of tens of thousands of Iran’s bravest sons and daughters, has been erased from the pages of history," Pahlavi writes on social media.

"With his death, the Islamic Republic has effectively come to an end and will soon be consigned to the dustbin of history."

Pahlavi discouraged Iranian officials from appointing a successor and warned that it was the military, security and police forces "last chance" to join the people.

"This marks the beginning of our great national celebration; but it is not the end of the road."

Pahlavi followed his parents and siblings into exile following the 1979 revolution and has resided in the United States since.