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Iran fired missiles astatine targets successful Israel and Gulf Arab states connected Sunday (March 1, 2026) aft vowing monolithic retaliation for the sidesplitting of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by the United States and Israel, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to endanger Tehran against further escalation.
Iran acknowledged Khamenei's decease successful the associated Israeli-American airstrike Saturday (February 28, 2026) astatine his Tehran bureau hours, which has thrown the aboriginal of the Islamic Republic into question and raised the hazard of determination instability.
The 86-year-old's decease astatine his bureau “showed that helium consistently stood among the radical and astatine the forefront of his responsibilities, confronting what officials telephone planetary arrogance,” Iranian authorities TV said.
Mr. Trump said the sidesplitting of Khamenei gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country.
“Khamenei, 1 of the astir evil radical successful History, is dead,” Mr. Trump wrote successful a societal media post.
Iran's Cabinet vowed that this “great transgression volition ne'er spell unanswered”, and the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened to motorboat its “most aggravated violative operation” ever, targeting Israeli and American bases.
“You person crossed our reddish enactment and indispensable wage the price,” Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said successful a televised code Sunday. “We volition present specified devastating blows that you yourselves volition beryllium driven to beg.” “Iran conscionable stated that they are going to deed precise hard today, harder than they person ever deed before,” Trump fired backmost successful a societal media post. “THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”.
Iran retaliates
After the archetypal strikes, Iran instantly launched missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. subject installations successful Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. The Israeli subject said Iran fired dozens of missiles astatine Israel, with galore intercepted. The Magen David Adom rescue work said Saturday(February 28, 2026) nighttime that a pistillate successful the Tel Aviv country died aft being wounded successful an Iranian rocket attack
Flights crossed the Middle East were disrupted, and aerial defence occurrence thudded implicit Dubai, the United Arab Emirates' commercialized capital, with explosions continuing into Sunday (March 1, 2026) morning. Shrapnel from an Iranian rocket onslaught connected the UAE superior killed 1 person, authorities media said, and debris from aerial interceptions caused fires astatine the city's main larboard and connected the facade of the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel.
The onslaught connected Iran opened a stunning caller section successful U.S. intervention, and carried the imaginable for retaliatory unit and a wider war, representing a startling flex of subject mightiness for an American president who swept into bureau connected an “America First” level and vowed to support retired of “forever wars.” The sidesplitting of Khamenei successful the 2nd Trump administration's battle connected Iran successful 8 months appeared definite to make a enactment vacuum, fixed the lack of a known successor and due to the fact that the ultimate person had last accidental connected each large policies during his decades successful power. He led Iran's clerical constitution and the Revolutionary Guard, the 2 main centres of powerfulness successful the governing theocracy.
“This is the azygous top accidental for the Iranian radical to instrumentality backmost their Country,” Mr. Trump said.
Iran rapidly formed a assembly to govern the state until a caller ultimate person is chosen.
State media besides reported the deaths of the caput of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and a apical information advisor to Khamenei successful airstrikes. Major General Mohammad Pakpour took implicit arsenic the Guard's apical commandant aft Israel killed its past commandant successful the 12-day warfare past June. The adviser, Ali Shamkhani, had agelong been a figurehead wrong Iran's information establishment, IRNA said.
As reports trickled retired astir Khamenei's death, eyewitnesses successful Tehran told The Associated Press that immoderate residents were rejoicing, cheering from rooftops, blowing whistles and letting retired ululations.
Mourners raised a achromatic mourning emblem implicit the Imam Reza shrine successful Mashhad, Iran's second-largest metropolis and a large pilgrimage tract for Shiite Muslims. The Iranian authorities declared 40 days of nationalist mourning and a seven-day nationwide nationalist vacation to commemorate Khamenei's death.
Citing unidentified sources, the semiofficial Fars quality agency, believed to beryllium adjacent to the Revolutionary Guard, reported that respective relatives of Khamenei were besides killed, including a daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and grandchild.
