Israeli emergency service officers inspect search through the debris at the scene of a missile attack near Bet Shemesh, some 30 kilometres west of Jerusalem on March 1, 2026. A barrage of missiles launched from Iran killed at least six people in the central Israel city of Bet Shemesh on March 1, Israel's first responders agency, Magen David Adom (MDA) said, the day after the US and Israel attacked Iran and assassinated its supreme leader. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
Iran launched strikes across the Gulf on Sunday after vowing to avenge slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, defying a threat from President Donald Trump to strike with unprecedented force.
Blasts heard throughout Middle East
As crowds gathered in Tehran, with some grieving and others celebrating, explosions rang out and the Israeli military announced it was again striking targets in the heart of the capital.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced a fresh “large-scale” attack on Sunday, and blasts were heard in Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Manama, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with Israeli rescue services reporting four people killed in the latest missile attack.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian declared Khamenei’s killing a “declaration of war against Muslims” and warned: “Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime.”
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Israel described Khamenei’s death as a “first step”, and military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani boasted that the joint operation “eliminated 40 senior commanders, including Khamenei, in one minute in two different locations over a thousand miles from Israel in broad daylight”.
In a social media post that adopted Trump’s style and rhetoric, Ali Larijani, the powerful head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, declared: “Today we will hit them with a force that they have never experienced before.”
International reactions to conflict
International reactions to conflict have been mixed, with Pope Leo XIV urging both sides to end “the spiral of violence”, while China condemned Khamenei’s killing as a “serious violation of Iran’s sovereignty”.
France, on the other hand, expressed satisfaction at the death of “a bloodthirsty dictator who oppressed his people, degraded women, young people and minorities”.
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Trump threatens unprecedented force
Blasts were heard in northern Tehran and smoke was seen emanating from a building, an AFP journalist reported. It was not immediately clear what the target was.
Earlier, cheers had been heard as some Iranians celebrated reports of the death of their longtime leader, but after state media confirmed his killing, pro-government demonstrations also formed, chanting “Death to America!”
As crowds demanded revenge – and Iran’s army announced strikes targeting US bases in the Gulf and Iraqi Kurdistan – Trump threatened to unleash “force that has never been seen before” and urged Iran’s people to rise up and seize power.
Iran’s first retaliatory strikes on Saturday had hit all the Gulf states apart from Oman, which had sought to mediate US-Iran talks.
But on Sunday the country’s commercial port of Duqm was hit by two drones, injuring a foreign worker, the Oman News Agency said.
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Outrage at Saturday’s wave of US and Israeli strikes against Iran spilled over into neighbouring Iraq and Pakistan, where crowds attempted to storm US diplomatic missions.
In the Pakistani megacity of Karachi, at least nine people were killed by gunshot wounds during pro-Iran protests at the US consulate, according to a hospital record seen by AFP.
Britain urged UK citizens in the Gulf region to “shelter in place”, and the US mission in Jordan urged citizens to stay away from the embassy, and in Bahrain told them to avoid hotels after one was damaged in a strike.
In Iran, the Red Crescent said strikes had left 201 people dead and injured hundreds more.
Iran’s judiciary confirmed that Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Khamenei, and General Mohammad Pakpour, the head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards, were among those killed.
Iran’s retaliatory strikes across the Middle East killed at least two people in Abu Dhabi and another in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
Question on succession
Iran had already seen intense speculation on a successor to Khamenei, given his age of 86.
Upon his death, many observers expected greater power for the Revolutionary Guards, which are deeply entrenched in the Iranian economy.
On Sunday, Iran named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to join Pezeshkian on an interim leadership council to lead the country while a permanent successor is found for the supreme leader.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late pro-Western shah deposed in the 1979 Islamic revolution, said any successor within the system would be illegitimate.
Hailing the demise of Khamenei, Pahlavi said: “With his death, the Islamic Republic has effectively come to an end and will soon be consigned to the dustbin of history.”
Pahlavi, who has spent most of his life in exile near Washington, has presented himself as a transitional figure to a secular democracy, but he does not enjoy support from across the opposition.
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