US President Donald Trump on Saturday took to his Truth Social to announce that "Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead" hours after international media frenzy to break the news only to publish clarifications.
The media largely quoted Israeli military sources and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who claimed that all the signs pointed to the death of Khamenei whose home missiles from US and Israel had targed when the two nations launched unprovoked attacks on Iran.
"This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei," Trump purred.
But moments after his post, Khamenei's account on X (formerly Twitter) posted cryptic message inscribed on an even more cryptic image.
The brief message was in Persian, exalting the noble name of Haidar. "Be nām-e nāmi-ye Heydar, alayhis-salām" the Persian text reads, which translates as “In the exalted name of Haidar (peace be upon him).”
Haidar is another name for Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shia Imam and a central figure in Shia Islam, renowned for his bravery and for wielding the sword Zulfiqar.
The artwork accompanying the post depicts a cloaked figure holding a glowing sword, with light streaks resembling falling projectiles or meteors, creating a dramatic, battle-like atmosphere.
This imagery strongly evokes Imam Ali as a symbol of divine justice, courage in battle, protection of Islam, and resistance against enemies.
When Khamenei invokes Imam Ali through this visual, it typically frames a current political or military situation in religious-historical terms, portraying a struggle as righteous or defensive, and rallying ideological unity around resistance.
This is deliberate symbolic messaging rather than a random religious reference, and it often appears during periods of heightened tension, particularly involving Israel, the United States, or regional conflicts.
Although it is his official account, it most like has a handler but it usually posts his official communication. Many on social media who had been following the rumours had told Iranian commentators who claimed that Khamenei had been moved to a secure operations room that they would wait until he posted on his official account.
Earlier, Al Jazeera had reported Khamenei dead, quoting Reuters. But moments later, Al Jazeera posted: "Iran’s semi-official Tasnim and Mehr news agencies are reporting that the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “steadfast and firm in commanding the field.”
But Reuters Arabic disowned what was being attributed to them, saying their news media had not published any such information.
Yet still some international media, includinng AP, took to the web to quote Trump sayingKhamenei was killed.
Trump said his death is “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.”
Addressing Americans, and "those people from many countries throughout the world, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS", Trump said the Ayatollah was unable to avoid US intelligence and highly sophisticated tracking systems.
"Working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do," he said. "This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country."
He claimed that Iran has been, in only one day, "very much destroyed and, even, obliterated".
Last July, Trump used the same exact word "obliterated" to claim the US bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities had obliterated everything.
But for this latest attack on Iran, Trump and his administration as well as Israel built it all on the claim that Iran was close to building nuclear weapons.
"The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!" he said.
But is Khamenei dead?
What is clear is that neither Trump nor Netanyahu has concrete evidence. And Iran has not officially confirmed the wild rumours.