Iran has entered a 40-day mourning period following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in strikes carried out by the United States and Israel on Saturday.
Several senior security officials and members of Khamenei’s family, including his daughter, son-in-law and grandson, were also killed. P
resident Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the killings and declared seven days of public holidays alongside the mourning period. A temporary leadership council comprising the president, the chief of the judiciary, and a jurist from the Guardian Council has assumed control of the country until a new supreme leader is elected.
Crowds gathered in the streets of Tehran and at religious shrines across the country following news of Khamenei’s death, with scenes of public mourning also reported in Mashhad. Reuters cited witnesses reporting celebrations at news of the death in parts of Tehran, Karaj and Isfahan.
Protests were held in neighbouring Iraq, which declared three days of mourning, and in the Pakistani city of Karachi, where the US consulate was targeted. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has pledged revenge and claimed strikes on US military bases and Israeli facilities across the region. US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Sunday that any further retaliation would be met with overwhelming force.
