Trump says US won't kill Iran's supreme leader, 'at least not for now'

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. knew exactly where Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was “hiding”, that he was an easy target but would not be killed, at least for now.

“We know exactly where the so-called “Supreme Leader” is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Iran Israel War News Today – ARY News

“But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin,” Trump said.

Earlier, Iran’s top army commander and close aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Major General Ali Shadmani – was killed on Tuesday in an airstrike just days after his appointment, Israel’s military claimed.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had killed Major General Shadmani, the newly appointed Commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters, in an airstrike targeting Iran’s staffed command center in Tehran.

“Shadmani served as War-Time Chief of Staff and Commander of the Emergency Command of the Iranian Armed Forces. He commanded both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian Army,” the IDF statement added.

Ayatollah Khamenei had appointed Major General Shadmani to the post on June 13, following the death of Major General Gholam Ali Rashid in a previous Israeli attack.

According to Iranian media, the Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters is a division of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, responsible for planning and coordinating operations involving various military units.

Previously, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced the appointment of new chiefs for the Iranian Army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), following the killing of senior Iranian military leaders in Israeli airstrikes.

According to Mehr News Agency, Ali Khamenei appointed Commander Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi as the new Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces after the chief of staff Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri was killed in an Israeli airstrike early on Friday.