Iran has continued to agonize over the ripple effects of the US-Israeli airstrike after Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, wife of the late Supreme Leader, died from injuries sustained in the same strike that reportedly killed her husband.
The development was first reported by Al Jazeera, which said she passed away two days after the strike on their compound in Tehran.
Iranian state media also claimed that the attack killed the couple’s daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law, turning the strike into a devastating family loss.
Ali Khamenei had been a key figure in Iranian politics for decades.
His reported death in the strike sent immediate shockwaves across the Middle East and beyond, with tensions already running high.
Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh married Khamenei in 1965. Together, they had four sons and two daughters.
She was believed to be 79 at the time of her death.
Unlike many political spouses, she stayed largely out of the spotlight.
She held no official position and avoided public appearances, quietly supporting her husband through revolution, imprisonment and decades in power.
In a rare 2011 interview, she described her role during his struggle against the Shah before the 1979 revolution:
“I think my biggest role was to preserve a calm atmosphere in our home so that he could do his work in peace.
“I would sometimes visit him in prison without telling him about our problems. In response to his questions about us, I would only give him good news.
“Of course I was also active in distributing pamphlets, carrying messages and hiding documents, but I think [these actions] are not worth mentioning.”
On whether he helped at home, she said, “He neither currently has time [to help] nor do I expect him to do so.
“One admirable trait he has which could be as an example for others, is that even, though he often comes home tired from work, he does his best to keep work-related problems away from home.”
