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00:56

Iran's state media confirmed Sunday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in U.S.-Israeli attacks on Saturday.

The Iranian government announced a 40-day mourning period following reports of the leader's death.

Ali Khamenei was born in 1939 in Mashhad, Iran.

In June 1981, Khamenei survived a targeted assassination attempt that left his right arm paralyzed. In the same year, he assumed office as president of Iran, serving from 1981 to 1989.

In 1989, he became the supreme leader, a position he held until his death.

Khamenei advocated for the development of Iran's defense and nuclear programs, as well as supporting the "resistance front" in multiple countries across the Middle East to expand Iran's geopolitical influence.

In the face of severe international sanctions and domestic economic pressure, he proposed the strategy of a "resistance economy," aimed at achieving national self-sufficiency.

(With input from Xinhua)

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Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, is dead at 86