‘Burn in hell’: Sky News host Rita Panahi, who fled Iran as child, reacts to Khamenei’s death; praises Trump

Speaking live on air, Panahi welcomed the development and described it as a turning point in Iran’s modern history.

“All I have to say is that after 47 years of Islamist tyranny, the dictator is dead, and Iran is on the verge of being liberated. Never thought I would see this day in my lifetime,” Panahi said during her broadcast, as quoted by NDTV.

Panahi, who was born in Iran and fled the country with her family following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has long been an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime.

During the broadcast, she also praised US President Donald Trump for what she described as the “courage” to order the strike targeting Tehran’s leadership.

" Your father is a d*g, dirt be on your head and burn in hell," she said in Persian, the broadcaster reported.

While some commentators and officials expressed shock and concern over the killing, others, including critics of the Iranian government, openly celebrated the development, viewing it as a potential end to decades of repression.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader since 1989, was killed in his office early Saturday during coordinated air strikes carried out by United States and Israeli forces, according to Iranian state media and US officials.

President Donald Trump confirmed that American forces had targeted and killed the 86-year-old cleric, calling him “one of the most evil people in history” and urging Iranians to “take back their country.”

The strikes were described by US and Israeli officials as part of a broader military campaign aimed at dismantling Iran’s ruling establishment and weakening its military and nuclear command structure.

Khamenei, who succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, had been Iran’s most powerful political and religious authority for over three decades, shaping the country’s domestic policies and its confrontational stance toward the West.

His reported killing marks a dramatic escalation in hostilities and has plunged the Middle East into deep uncertainty, raising fears of wider regional conflict and political instability.