What we know so far: Supreme Leader Khamenei killed, as Iran launches retaliatory strikes

(BBC) - Iran's state media has confirmed that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been killed, after attacks across Iran by Israel and the US, which began on Saturday morning local time.

The state media announcement of Ayatollah Khamenei's death came after US President Donald Trump said he was dead and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Khamenei's Tehran compound had been destroyed in "a powerful, surprise strike".

Iran responded to the attack, which came two days after US-Iranian talks on Tehran's nuclear programme ended without a deal, by launching missiles and drones towards Israel and four Gulf Arab countries which host US military bases: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.

What is happening in Iran?

Shortly after 09:30 local time (06:00 GMT) on Saturday, Iranian media reported explosions in the capital, Tehran. Pictures showed smoke over the city's Jomhouri Square and Hassan Abad Square.

Explosions were also reportedly heard in several other cities across the country, including Karaj, near Tehran, Isfahan and Qom in the centre of the country, and Kermanshah in the west.

A spokesman for the Iranian Red Crescent told local media 24 of Iran's 31 provinces had been hit in US and Israeli strikes.

Videos circulating on social media showed people running in panic near sites of explosions. The sound of screams and crying could be heard in the background.

Footage from Tehran verified by the BBC showed explosions within 1km (0.6 miles) of Leadership House, Khamenei's compound. It was not immediately clear whether he was there at the time of the strikes.

Satellite imagery obtained by the BBC also showed signs of significant damage in the compound, including blackened buildings, debris and a column of smoke.

On Saturday evening, Netanyahu said in a televised address that "we destroyed the compound of the tyrant Khamenei in the heart of Tehran". "There are many signs that the tyrant himself is no more," he added.

Trump then wrote on Truth Social: "Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead."

"He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do."

It was confirmed statement from Iran's Supreme National Security Council - read out by several state broadcast channels on Sunday morning local time - that Khamenei had been killed in his office.