Iranian prosecutors have issued an indictment over the US-Israeli airstrike that killed former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and four members of his family in Tehran, the capital’s chief prosecutor said on Saturday.
Tehran Prosecutor General Ali Salehi said the preliminary investigation had been completed following a review of domestic and international evidence. The indictment has now been referred to a court for consideration, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported.
Salehi said those accused of planning, ordering, facilitating or carrying out the attack were being prosecuted. One of the principal charges is “corruption on Earth,” a serious offence under Iranian law that can carry the death penalty.
According to Salehi, targeting Iran’s highest political and religious authority was intended to undermine the country’s governing structure and forcibly influence state policy. He said criminal responsibility extended beyond those who carried out the strike to those who allegedly ordered and planned it.
The attack also killed Khamenei’s daughter, his son’s wife, his daughter’s husband and his 14-month-old grandson, according to Iranian authorities.
Salehi argued that the deaths of women, children and other civilians could not be dismissed as collateral damage or assessed solely in relation to the operation’s declared military objective.
He said the indictment drew on Iranian law as well as principles of international law and international humanitarian law, particularly protections for civilians and prohibitions on attacks against them.
US-Israeli strike on Tehran
Khamenei was killed on February 28, 2026, when a US-Israeli airstrike targeted his compound in Tehran during the opening phase of a wider military campaign against Iran.
Iranian sources and international reports said several members of his family were killed alongside him, including his daughter, son-in-law, grandson and daughter-in-law.
The strike formed part of a broader operation targeting Iranian military installations, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities, air-defence systems, missile and drone infrastructure, and sites associated with the country’s leadership.
Salehi said the case could also provide Tehran with a legal basis for pursuing those it holds responsible through international mechanisms, in addition to supporting prosecutions inside Iran.
Separately, the prosecutor announced that an indictment had been issued over an attack that killed pupils at the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab. He said the preliminary investigation into that incident had also been completed and that those accused of involvement were being pursued.