Iranian State TV Announces Death Of Khamenei’s Wife After US Israeli Airstrike

Iranian state television presenters announced the death of Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, the 79-year-old wife of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after she succumbed to injuries sustained in the same US-Israeli airstrike that killed her husband at his compound in Tehran.

She died two days after Khamenei was killed, The Wall Street Journal reported. State television declared that Bagherzadeh’s “long dream of martyrdom became true” and said her death would spark “a massive uprising in the fight against oppressors.”

The announcement followed an earlier broadcast in which an anchor tearfully reported the Supreme Leader’s death. Iran declared an official 40-day mourning period and a seven-day national holiday.

According to the Daily Mail, Bagherzadeh married Khamenei in 1965. They had four sons and two daughters.

In a 2011 interview with state media, she described her role as maintaining a calm home environment so her husband could work in peace.

“I think my biggest role was to preserve a calm atmosphere in our home so that he could do his work in peace,” she said.

She also said she visited him in prison without burdening him with family problems and “would only give him good news.”

She acknowledged distributing pamphlets, carrying messages, and hiding documents during the revolutionary period but described those efforts as “not worth mentioning.”

Her death comes amid escalating military exchanges between Iran and US-Israeli forces.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said at least 555 people have been killed across Iran in the campaign, with more than 130 cities coming under attack.

Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, condemned the strikes as “unlawful, criminal and brutal” and alleged that the Natanz nuclear enrichment site was targeted.

“Their justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is simply a big lie,” Najafi told journalists.

Ali Larijani, a senior Iranian security official, wrote on X that “we will not negotiate with the United States.”

Iran is believed to have launched multiple retaliatory attacks across the region.

An attack reportedly struck the American embassy compound in Kuwait City, though there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. Kuwaiti air defenses mistakenly shot down three American F 15E Strike Eagles.

US Central Command confirmed that all six aircrew ejected safely, were recovered, and are in stable condition.

A pro-Iranian militia in Iraq launched attacks targeting Irbil and a British base in Cyprus. Officials in Oman said a drone boat struck an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman near Muscat, killing one mariner.