Iran's Supreme Leader killed in US-Israeli strikes
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.3K Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed in his office by US and Israeli strikes - ending his 36-year iron rule of the Islamic Republic. As the government announces a 40 day mourning period, many Iranians have reportedly taken to the streets to celebrate. The Revolutionary Guard has promised to punish the "murderers", and is carrying out retaliatory strikes across the Gulf region. There have been strong reactions at the UN Security Council and on Capitol Hill. So who's now in charge of Iran? And what does this mean for the rest of the world? We get analysis from BBC Persian and our international correspondents about the significance of this moment.
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Image credit: Iranian supreme leader's office handout/EPA/Shutterstock
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.5 | You're listening to the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.2 | Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. This edition is published in the early hours of Sunday, the 1st of March. |
| 0:16.7 | Iran has confirmed the death of its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Kamenei. |
| 0:20.7 | Hazzathe Imam Khamenei. |
| 0:37.8 | The 86-year-old Kleramenei was killed during a barrage of U.S.-Israeli strikes. |
| 0:41.9 | President Trump called him one of the most evil people in history, |
| 0:44.3 | as some people celebrated in Iran. |
| 0:46.6 | But who is in charge now? |
| 0:53.2 | Also in the podcast, we hear about Iranian retaliation hitting targets across the Middle East and threatening |
| 0:55.8 | to close a key oil transit route. And we get an update from the UN Security Council. |
| 1:05.4 | For nearly four decades, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has wielded absolute power in Iran, but no longer. |
| 1:13.1 | As dawn broke in Tehran, Iranian state media confirmed he was dead, killed at his office in the early |
| 1:19.2 | hours of Saturday. |
| 1:20.7 | It followed a day of heavy airstrikes across Iran by the US and Israel, codenamed Epic Fury. |
| 1:27.2 | President Trump earlier broke the news of the death of the 86-year-old cleric, calling him |
| 1:31.7 | one of the most evil people in history, but Iran denied it. |
| 1:35.9 | Nevertheless, as rumours spread of his demise, there were celebrations in a number |
| 1:39.6 | of Iranian cities. |
| 1:47.7 | Young, cities. Young people, including women without headscarves, danced and waved flags in a residential |
| 1:52.7 | area near the city of Karaj. |
| 1:55.0 | In the west of the capital Tehran, people were filmed cheering and whistling from their |
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