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The wife of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has died from injuries she sustained in recent US-Israeli strikes.

Getting into it: Confirmed by Iranian state media, Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, 78, died after falling into a coma following injuries sustained during the coordinated US-Israeli strikes. Reports indicate she was present at the targeted compound when the strike occurred on Saturday. Iranian outlets said she died from her wounds days later, describing her death as “martyrdom.”

Khojasteh Bagherzadeh married Khamenei in 1964 and largely remained out of public view throughout his decades in power. Known for maintaining a private life despite her husband’s political prominence, she was rarely seen in official state appearances and avoided political involvement. In addition to her, other family members were killed in the same wave of strikes, including Khamenei’s daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law.

This all comes as Israeli media citing sources within the IDF say the strikes eliminated between 1,000 and 1,500 members of Iran’s security forces, including senior commanders and intelligence officials. Among the most prominent figures killed are:

• Ali Shamkhani – Secretary of Iran’s Defense Council and a key security adviser to the supreme leader, involved in national defence decision-making.
• Abdolrahim Mousavi – Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces and a senior military commander.
• Aziz Nasirzadeh – Iran’s Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, formerly a senior air force commander.
• Mohammad Pakpour – Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and long-time IRGC leader.
• Hossein Jabal Amelian – Brigadier General and chairman of Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), linked to weapons development.
• Saleh Asadi – Head of Intelligence at the Khatam-al-Anbiya Central Headquarters and senior military intelligence officer.
• Reza Mozaffari Nia – Former SPND chairman involved in research and weapons programmes.
• Mohammad Shirazi – Brigadier General and head of the Military Office of the Supreme Leader, a key liaison within Iran’s defence structure.

According to Israeli officials, their strikes specifically targeted IRGC headquarters, intelligence ministry buildings, and Quds Force positions in what they characterized as a decisive effort to dismantle Iran’s top military and security leadership.