Trump celebrates Khamenei's death, says strikes will continue

US President Donald Trump has celebrated the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint US-Israeli strikes, warning that attacks will continue, reports Reuters.

Trump, monitoring the operation from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, posted on Saturday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had died. A senior Israeli official earlier told Reuters that Khamenei's body had been found, with Iranian state media later confirming his death.

"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 and his gang of bloodthirsty thugs," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The strikes, which Trump said were aimed at destroying Iranian missiles and annihilating its navy, follow repeated warnings that Washington and Israel would strike Iran again if it pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Trump had warned earlier on Saturday there could be American casualties from "major combat operations" in Iran. But nearly 12 hours after the first strikes, US Central Command said it had no reports of American casualties, with damage to installations minimal and not impacting operations.

This is the second series of US strikes on Iran since Trump returned to the White House last year. Despite recent talks between Iran and the United States, senior administration officials said the president saw both immediate and long-term reasons to green-light the latest strikes. One senior official said Iran was not willing to give up its nuclear programme, using "games, tricks, stall tactics" to string out talks.