"Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead," Trump said on his Truth Social network.

"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 said the Iranian leader had been "unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems."

The US president said the death of Khamenei gave Iranians their "greatest chance" to "take back their country."

"The country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated. The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective," Trump posted.