DUBAI: Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the United States, throwing the future of the Islamic Republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability.
Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old's death early Sunday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country.
The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” was to continue through the week or as long as necessary.
Iran responded by firing drones and missiles at Israel and US military installations around the Gulf, and also at the global business hub of Dubai. Earlier Sunday, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever targeting Israel and US bases.
Israel also continued its attacks on Iran with an enormous strike that targeted Tehran.
An Israeli military spokesperson said Sunday that he is not aware of any Israeli or American strikes in the area of a school in southern Iran where more than 100 people died.
State-run IRNA news agency said a strike hit an all-girls school in the town of Minab on Saturday.
On Saturday, US Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said he was “aware of reports” and that the US is investigating.
Pope Leo XIV said Sunday he was “profoundly concerned” about the US and Israeli strikes on Iran and urged both sides to “stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.”
In the Holy See's first reaction to the attacks, the American pope called for the resumption of diplomacy and a “reasonable, authentic and responsible” dialogue based on justice.
Weapons, he said, only sow “destruction, pain and death," he said from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square at his traditional noontime blessing.
China calls the killing of Iran's supreme leader unacceptable
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi sharply criticised the killing of Khamenei in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
“The blatant killing of the leader of a sovereign state and the incitement of regime change are unacceptable,” he was quoted as saying by China's official Xinhua News Agency. “These actions violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations.”
He said attacking a sovereign state without UN Security Council authorisation undermines the foundation for peace established after World War II.
“The international community should speak in a clear and unequivocal voice, opposing the world regressing to the law of the jungle,” he said.
Serbia says the country's embassy building in Tehran was damaged in military strikes on Iran, but that no one was injured. The state RTS broadcaster posted a video of the building showing some windows shattered and glass on the ground. The report said that the apparent target was a military base that is located in the area.
Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said embassy staff were pulling out and moving to Azerbaijan's capital, Baku. Serbia traditionally has good relations with Iran stemming from the era of the Communist-run former Yugoslavia, which broke up in the 1990s.
British Defence Minister John Healey said Iranian missile and drone strikes came within a few hundred yards (meters) of a group of 300 British military personnel in Bahrain and that two missiles were fired in the direction of Cyprus, where the UK has bases.
“We don't believe they were targeted at Cyprus, but nevertheless, it's an example of how there is a very real and rising threat from a regime that is lashing out widely across the region, and that requires us to act,” Healey told Sky News.
He said British planes will intercept any Iranian drones and missiles they see.
Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis posted on X that reports suggesting missiles had been fired toward Cyprus are not valid and that “there is no indication whatsoever that any threat to the country has occurred.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was “a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.”
Putin on Sunday sent condolences to his Iranian counterpart, saying Khamenei will be remembered “as an outstanding statesman” who helped elevate Russian-Iranian relations.
In Lebanon, the leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, Naim Kassem, mourned Khamenei's death in a US-Israeli strike, and said: “We will fulfil our duty in confronting aggression.” He vowed that Hezbollah would not abandon its resistance to confronting American and Israeli “tyranny.”
The Omani port struck by Iran has been used by the US Navy
The Omani port of Duqm, which Iran struck on Sunday, has been used by the US Navy as a logistical hub and is capable of hosting aircraft carriers.
The US and Oman signed a strategic framework agreement in 2019 that expanded the Navy's access to Omani ports by allowing ships to dock in Duqm and Salalah.
Both ports lie on Oman's Arabian Sea coast, allowing ships to dock without having to transit the narrow Strait of Hormuz to access other major ports in the Persian Gulf. Oman and Iran front the Strait of Hormuz.
The Navy has used access to Duqm for ship maintenance and replenishment, which typically involves activities such as refuelling and loading of supplies. The United Kingdom also has a logistics base at the port.
The sultanate of Oman has long tried to keep a lower profile in the region. It has frequently acted as a bridge between the US and Iran, most recently mediating talks between the two countries in Geneva.