Iran's clerical leaders vowed to avenge the death of its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and launched a fresh wave of attacks on Sunday as Israel hit back at the capital Tehran.
Iran's clerical leaders vowed to avenge the death of its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and launched a fresh wave of attacks on Sunday as Israel hit back at the capital Tehran. It came after the United States and Israel claimed to have killed Khamenei in a wave of strikes Saturday against targets in Iran, which sparked swift retaliation by the Islamic republic.
Here are the latest developments.
Israel hits Tehran
The Israeli army announced Sunday it was again launching "large-scale" strikes targeting the "heart of Tehran". Its air force led the campaign "to establish aerial superiority and to pave the path to Tehran".
The Israeli military also claimed it had destroyed roughly half of Iran's missile stockpiles in the previous war in June 2025, adding the Islamic republic had been producing dozens of surface-to-surface missiles each month.
Hamas meanwhile on Sunday said it was mourning Khamenei's death in what it described as a "heinous" US-Israeli attack.
It said that the US and Israel "bear full responsibility" for the "serious repercussions on the security and stability of the region" following the attack.
Iran-ally Hezbollah in Lebanon vowed to "confront aggression" from the US and Israel.
Iran hits back
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a "declaration of war against Muslims" on Sunday, vowing vengeance.
Iranian security chief Ali Larijani then vowed to hit the US and Israel with a force never seen before.
Ayatollah Alireza Arafi was named to an interim leadership council, that includes the president and head of the judiciary, to be at the helm of the country until a new permanent leader is selected.
Earlier, Iran's army said it targeted on Sunday US bases in Iraq's Kurdistan region and in the Gulf in response to the attack launched by the US and Israel.
"A few minutes ago, pilots of the air forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran successfully bombed US bases in the countries of the Persian Gulf and in the Kurdistan region of Iraq over several phases of operations," Iran's army said in a statement carried by state TV.
Air raid sirens sounded and explosions were heard over Jerusalem on Sunday after the Israeli military said it had detected missiles launched from Iran towards Israel.
AFP correspondents heard blasts in Dubai, east of the Saudi capital Riyadh, across Bahrain's capital Manama and Qatar, where thick black smoke was also seen rising on the horizon south of Doha.
A top Emirati official warned Iran on Sunday that "your war is not with your neighbours" and that retaliation against Gulf states was a "miscalculation".
Deadly protests erupt
Crowds gathered on Sunday in Iran's south to call for vengeance following the killing of Khamenei in US and Israeli attacks, Iranian media reported.
Similar gatherings took place elsewhere in Iran including in Tehran and the central city of Yazd.
Hundreds of protesters in Iraq, which officially declared three days of mourning for Khamenei, also tried to storm the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, where the US embassy is located.
In Pakistan, eight people were killed as hundreds of protesters tried to storm the US consulate in the megacity of Karachi, the local rescue service said.
Several thousand Shia Muslims joined demonstrations in Indian-administered Kashmir, many chanting anti-Israel and anti-US slogans.
The US embassy in Oman told its staff and citizen to take cover due to unspecified "activity outside Muscat".
Evacuations
Thailand is readying to evacuate its citizens from the Middle East by military or charter flights, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Sunday.
The Thai government has "coordinated with the Royal Thai Air Force to prepare aircraft to evacuate Thai citizens, prioritising those in Iran", Anutin told reporters in Bangkok, adding that charter flights were also under consideration.
"We have to check the closure of airspace, whether we need to evacuate them to the third country first," he added.
UN nuclear agency to meet
The United Nations' nuclear agency will hold an extraordinary meeting on Iran on Monday in the wake of the US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic, aimed in part at Tehran's atomic programme.
In a statement late on Saturday, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the meeting was at the request of Russia, a key ally of Tehran.
More deaths announced
Iran's police intelligence chief Gholamreza Rezaian was killed during US and Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic, Iranian media reported Sunday.
Iran's armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi was killed along with other senior generals in US and Israeli strikes on the country, state TV reported on Sunday.
State TV listed the name of Mousavi along with defence minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and others.
Iran Supreme leader killed
Iranian state television reported Khamenei's death in the early hours of Sunday, broadcasting archive images with a black banner.
Iranian media also reported the deaths of his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.
"Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead," Trump had said hours earlier on his Truth Social platform.
"Heavy and pinpoint bombing... will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST," Trump wrote.
He later warned Iran of force "never been seen before" after he said the Islamic republic indicated it was going to strike back "harder than they have ever hit."
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the campaign sent a message to those who would do harm to Americans: "We will hunt you down and we will kill you."
Guards chief killed
Iran's judiciary confirmed Sunday that the chief of the Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Pakpour, and another top security adviser, Ali Shamkhani, were also "martyred" in the strikes.
Earlier Sunday, the Guards said they would launch the "most ferocious" operation in history against Israel and US military bases.
UN Security Council meets
The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting over the fighting, with Iran's envoy accusing the US and Israel of committing a possible "war crime" by attacking civilians.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said military action in the Middle East "carries the risk of igniting a chain of events that no one can control".
Airspace closures, flights nixed
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Qatar, the UAE and Israel all closed their airspaces to civilian traffic, at least in part, and multiple airlines cancelled flights to the Middle East.
Widening conflict
- On Sunday, Iranian drones struck the Omani port of Duqm, injuring one worker, the Oman News Agency said, while an oil tanker was also targeted, resulting in some injuries.
- On Saturday, the United Arab Emirates said that two people were killed in Abu Dhabi, including a Pakistani civilian.
- Iran's Revolutionary Guards also moved to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which much of the world's oil and gas passes.
- Revolutionary Guards also said they targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and other American bases in the Gulf on Saturday, after launching a first wave of missile and drone attacks at Israel.
- Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service said a woman was killed and at least 21 were injured in the Tel Aviv area.
- The joint US-Israeli operation hit Tehran Saturday with strikes that Israel said were pre-emptive, targeting sites where senior Iranian officials had gathered and against Iranian missile launchers.
- The Iranian judiciary said 108 people died in a strike on a girls' school in Minab -- a figure AFP was unable to verify -- citing a provincial official who blamed Israel.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed)
