‘Made our way out of rubble’: Iranian FM details surviving airstrike that martyred Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has provided a detailed account of the death of the strike that targeted Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, revealing that he was present inside the Leader’s office when the building was bombed.

Araghchi explained that he had returned to Tehran from diplomatic negotiations in Geneva on a Friday and went to meet Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at 9:00 AM the following morning.

The purpose of the meeting was to brief the Leader on developments that suggested the prospect of war had become significantly more likely. The strike occurred while Araghchi was still inside the complex. While the wing where the Foreign Minister was seated was not completely destroyed, the building was heavily bombed, leaving him to navigate through rubble to escape the site.
“At the moment of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s martyrdom, I was in his office, which came under attack,” Araghchi stated.

He noted that despite the increasing threat of military action, the Leader had refused to take shelter. “As we were trying to make our way out from beneath the rubble, my thoughts were entirely focused on whether he had been targeted”.

Araghchi said that his primary concern was for the Leader’s safety rather than his own, noting that he was certain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was in the office at the time of the impact based on his daily routine.

The Foreign Minister described the 48 hours following the explosion as a period of agonizing uncertainty, as he did not know if the Leader had survived the direct hit.

The news of the martyrdom was eventually confirmed two days later. Araghchi remarked that the event left a permanent wound on the hearts of the people, but emphasized that the state did not collapse as its adversaries had predicted.

“They expected it to become a point of weakness and lead to the collapse of the regime. Instead, the opposite happened,” he pointed out. According to Araghchi, the Islamic Republic demonstrated institutional resilience by immediately activating its governing structures to manage the transition.