Satellite images captured after Saturday’s US and Israeli strikes on Tehran show that the residence of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sustained severe damage.
The photos, provided to Business Insider by Airbus, show several collapsed buildings inside a compound in Tehran, which is known to be one of Khamenei’s main residences.
It’s unclear if the Iranian leader was present at the time of the strikes, and his exact status is unknown.
Reuters, citing an unnamed source, earlier reported that Khamenei had been moved out of Tehran, and Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told the BBC on Saturday evening that Khamenei was still alive.
It’s also not yet clear if it was Israel or the US that carried out this particular strike. Representatives for the Pentagon and Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the hit when asked by Business Insider.
One of the heavily damaged buildings in the compound, at the bottom left of the image, is the House of Leadership, which is known as Khamenei’s office and principal place of residence.
In the images, smoke appears to be rising from its roof. Much of the compound has been obliterated, with felled trees and several more smoking buildings.
The large structure to the right of the compound is the Imam Khomeini Hussainia, a place of worship used by Iranian leaders for religious ceremonies and political speeches.
It’s unclear whether this larger building was also attacked, but what looks like debris can be seen on its roof.
A satellite image taken a year earlier shows the complex included at least six buildings, all of which are now damaged by the strikes.
A wider-angle view from another satellite image taken on Saturday appears to show that the strike was largely confined to Khamenei’s compound, which is located in the heart of the Iranian capital.
The compound’s neighboring buildings appear to be intact.
In a video address after the attacks began, President Donald Trump told Iranians to “take over your government.”
“It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations,” Trump said.
The US and Israel began their attacks on Saturday morning local time, hitting Tehran and several other Iranian cities in what has been one of the largest strike campaigns in recent years.
The full outcomes of these strikes are still being assessed, and much remains unclear about Tel Aviv and Washington’s exact objectives behind the attacks.
Meanwhile, Iran has responded by firing dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at its neighbors, saying it is targeting US military bases.
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