The New York Times has been slammed for its soft-touch headline announcing the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The liberal outlet published an article Saturday after President Donald Trump revealed Khamenei, ‘one of the most evil people in history,’ had been killed in a US airstrike.
Despite celebrations breaking out across the world over the brutal dictator’s death, the Times appeared to take a softer approach with an article titled: ‘Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Hard-Line Cleric Who Made Iran a Regional Power, Is Dead at 86.’
Social media users swiftly criticized the publication for ‘failing to call out a terrorist’ with their headline.
‘They are sick,’ one person posted on X as far-right social media account, Libs of TikTok, while another person said the headline left them so speechless, they had to check if it was AI-generated or not.
‘Omfg. This makes my blood boil,’ a third user said. Someone else chimed in: ‘You can’t despise them enough.’
Khamenei’s 36-year rule intensified the radical governance in Iran and fueled extremism across the Middle East. He was described as a dictator by many after his policies killed thousands Iranians and forced others into exile.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a US airstrike on Saturday
The New York Times has been slammed over its headline announcing his death, which appeared to take a soft approach when describing someone that many referred to as a dictator
Khamenei’s compound is seen completely destroyed after the airstrike that left him, his daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild dead on Saturday in Iran
The outlet’s piece also led many to compare its headline to the one the NYT pushed out in January about the death of Dilbert comic strip writer Scott Adams.
Adams died on January 13 from prostate cancer, and while many hailed the famed cartoonist, The Times pointed out the ‘racist comments’ he made on his podcast prior to his death in their headline about his death.
‘A cartoonist was the true threat to peace, obviously,’ a user sarcastically wrote.
‘NYT called Scott racist but failed to call out [a] terrorist,’ another shared.
The NYT wrote in their piece about Khamenei: ‘As the second leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khamenei cemented and expanded its hard-line Islamist and anti-Western policies, shaping the nation’s Islamic revolution far more than its founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who held power for just a decade, most of it during a devastating war with Iraq.’
The piece took a deep dive into Khamenei’s history as a ruler and how he came to be the leader of Iran, who led ‘with an iron fist,’ the NYT wrote.
The Daily Mail has contacted The New York Times for comment.
On Saturday night, Trump confirmed Khamenei died in the airstrike. Multiple members of his family, including his daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild, also perished.
‘Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,’ the president wrote on Truth Social.
The outlet’s piece also led many to compare its headline to the one the NYT pushed out in January about the death of Dilbert comic strip writer Scott Adams
‘This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS.
‘He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do,’ his statement continued.
The president also used his announcement to call on Iranian citizens to stand up to the Islamic regime, saying it is ‘the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.’
Iranian state media claimed the leader was killed at his compound, which was seen completely destroyed and surrounded by thick black smoke following the deadly airstrike.
Two high-level military leaders – Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani, and Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the IRGC, were also killed in the attack, according to Israeli state TV.
Airstrikes have continued to rain down on Sunday as the country’s President Masoud Pezeshkian branded the Supreme Leader’s killing a ‘declaration of war against Muslims.’
In response, the country has raised its so-called ‘Red Flag of Revenge’ and has vowed to hit the US and Israel with a ‘force never experienced before.’
On Saturday night, Trump confirmed Khamenei died in the airstrike. The president also called on Iranian citizens to stand up to the Islamic regime, saying it is ‘the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country’
Iran has retaliated with a series of strikes across its neighboring Gulf states, with explosions heard in Qatar, Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
Donald Trump promised to strike Iran ‘with a force that has never been seen before,’ after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced they had attacked nearly 30 US military bases across the Middle East on Sunday morning.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also said that they had attacked the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf following Khamenei’s death.
In a statement from local media outlets, they declared: ‘The powerful strikes by the armed forces on the weary body of the enemy military have entered a new phase, and land and sea will increasingly become the graveyard of the terrorist aggressors.’
While speaking at the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV sent a strong message to Trump regarding the recent military actions in the Middle East.
‘I am following with deep concern what is happening in the Middle East and in Iran during this tumultuous time,’ the Pope said.
‘Stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue,’ he added.
The pontifex, who is the first-ever American-born Pope, also warned of further large-scale violence if escalations continue.
Rescue teams are seen among masses of debris after an Iranian rocket hit Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem, Israel, on Sunday. At least nine people were killed, Israeli police said
‘Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions,’ he added, ‘I address to the parties involved a heartfelt appeal to assume the moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss!’
Pope Leo also prayed for nations to revisit diplomatic solutions to securing peace.
‘May diplomacy recover its role and may the good of peoples be promoted, peoples who long for peaceful coexistence founded on justice,’ he noted, ‘And let us continue to pray for peace.’
War has spread into Dubai as well after waves of suicide drones hit the city Sunday afternoon, destroying a hotel in Bahrain.
The remnants of the Iranian regime are launching widespread airstrikes across the Middle East, targeting US allies, military bases, and areas popular with Western expats.
At least two drones have hit Dubai’s airport, the world-famous Burj Al Arab and Palm Jumeirah hotels yesterday. Further explosions continue to echo across the Emirates.
