Former antisemitic Iranian president reportedly killed in targeted Tehran strikes

2026-03-01 - 13:48

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was killed Saturday during a wave of strikes in Tehran, the Iranian news agency ILNA (the Iranian Labour News Agency) reported. Ahmadinejad repeatedly claimed the Holocaust didn't happen and consistently said that Israel should disappear. President Donald Trump talking with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles as Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., during Operation Epic Fury on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 / Daniel Torok/The White House via AP Daniel Torok/The White House via AP According to the report, the strike targeted the Narmak neighborhood (a middle-class district in east Tehran) in the eastern sector of the city, where Ahmadinejad resided. He was reportedly killed alongside his security guards. While Ahmadinejad held the presidency from 2005-2013 – a period marked by intense confrontation with the West over Iran's nuclear program – his influence had waned significantly in the decade since. In recent years, he found himself pushed to the political periphery, often clashing with the supreme leader's inner circle. Iranian officials in Tehran have not yet provided official confirmation of the former president's death.