After Khamenei’s death, Iran’s IRGC vows ‘most ferocious offensive operation in history’ against Israel, US

After Khamenei’s death, Iran’s IRGC vows ‘most ferocious offensive operation in history’ against Israel, US

TOI STAFF

The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday

Additional sirens blare in central Israel as south gets early warning

More sirens sound across central Israel amid Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack.

An early warning is also issued in southern Israel as more projectiles are launched.

Civilians in areas where sirens sound are instructed to enter bomb shelters.

The IDF says it is working to intercept the missiles.

Several loud bangs heard over Dubai for second day, witnesses say

Several loud bangs are heard in the Dubai area for a second straight day, witnesses say, as Iran launches retaliatory strikes on the neighboring Gulf states in response to US and Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.

Iran has said it will target US bases in the region. It has hit a range of other targets.

Report: 30 bombs were dropped on Khamenei’s palace after rare opportunity emerged

Israel and the US waited for a rare opportunity to target Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and top advisers in his palace, The Wall Street Journal reports, without citing sources.

The report says three such meetings were identified by intelligence authorities, leading to the unusual broad daylight strike.

The report says 30 bombs were dropped on the compound.

Incoming missile alarms sound throughout central Israel

Incoming missile sirens sound in central Israel and parts of the northern West Bank due to a missile salvo from Iran, sending millions to bomb shelters.

Explosions, smoke near Iraq airport hosting US-led troops

By AFP

Loud explosions are heard near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

An AFP journalist reports seeing thick black smoke rising from the airport area.

Yesterday, US-led coalition forces downed several missiles and explosive-laden drones over Erbil.

Drone infiltration alarms blare in Eilat

As the army declares “over” the event that triggered suspected drone infiltration sirens a short while ago in towns north of Eilat, more such alerts sound in the southern city itself.

That incident it, too, soon declared “over” by the IDF, which provides no additional details.

Iran forms council to temporarily govern Iran after Khamenei’s killing

A council has formed to govern Iran after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

That council is enshrined in law in the Islamic Republic. It is made up of Iran’s sitting president, the head of the country’s judiciary and a member of the Guardian Council chosen by Iran’s Expediency Council, which advises the supreme leader and settles disputes with parliament.

Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and hardline judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei are on it.

Iranian law says the Assembly of Experts “must, as soon as possible,” pick a new supreme leader.

Iran’s IRGC threatens ‘most ferocious offensive operation in history’ against Israel, US after Khamenei killed

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vows to punish the “murderers” of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, after his death is confirmed by state television, promising what it says will be the “most ferocious offensive operation in history” against US bases and Israel.

“The hand of revenge of the Iranian nation for a severe, decisive and regrettable punishment for the murderers of the Imam of the Ummah will not let go of them,” the IRGC says in a statement.

“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and what it called the vast popular Basij forces will powerfully continue the path of their leader in defending his legacy, standing firm against internal and external plots and delivering what it described as a lesson-giving punishment to aggressors against the Islamic homeland,” it says.

Iran’s cabinet meanwhile warns that this “great crime will never go unanswered.”

Iran declares 40 days of mourning for Khamenei as US-Israel strikes continue

Iran declares 40 days of mourning for Khamenei as US-Israel strikes continue

Summary

• Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been killed in Saturday airstrikes, Iran International can confirm.

• Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy warned vessels not to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as Iranian missile strikes continue to hit its Arab neighbors.

  
  

• Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, was killed during Saturday’s attacks. Several IRGC commanders were also killed in the strikes, according to Reuters.

  
  

• Iran launched missile attacks toward Israel and across Persian Gulf states, with Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar reporting interceptions; one person was killed in Abu Dhabi. 

  
  

• The Pentagon named its mission “Operation Epic Fury,” while Israel dubbed its campaign “Lion’s Roar” and called up thousands of reservists. 

  
  

• Blasts were reported in Tehran, Tabriz, Qom, Karaj, Khorramabad, Kermanshah, Ilam and other cities. Iran’s Supreme Leader’s office in Tehran was targeted, and Iran closed its airspace for six hours.

  
  

  IRGC says ‘most devastating’ offensive imminent

  Iran’s IRGC says it is launching what it called “the most devastating offensive operation in the history of the Islamic Republic”, according to a statement published by the semi-official Fars news agency.

  The offensive will begin “in just moments” and target the “occupied territories and American terrorist bases” across the region, the statement said.

  
  

  US-Iran strikes disrupt global travel as airlines cancel flights

  Major airports across the Middle East were shut Saturday after US and Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s missile retaliation triggered major disruption to global aviation, Reuters reported.

  Dubai International Airport—the world’s busiest hub for international travel—was closed after sustaining damage during overnight Iranian attacks, while Abu Dhabi and Kuwait airports were also hit. 

  Airspace closures across the region left skies over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel and Bahrain largely empty as airlines cancelled or rerouted flights

  Tehran confirms death of supreme leader Ali Khamenei

  Iran’s state broadcaster confirmed the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei early hours Sunday local time, hours after US and Israel said he had been killed in they airstrikes Saturday. 

  Shortly afterward, the Iranian cabinet announced seven days of public holiday and 40 days of national mourning.

  
  

  Exiled prince Pahlavi says Iran nears 'liberation' after Khamenei

  Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi has welcomed US and Israeli strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, saying the moment could mark a turning point in Iran’s long struggle against the Islamic Republic. 

  Writing in an op-ed for The Washington Post, Pahlavi thanked President Donald Trump for supporting the Iranian people and said the final outcome will depend on Iranians themselves.

  “Even with U.S. and Israeli assistance, the final victory will be forged by the Iranian people,” he wrote, arguing that a democratic Iran could transform the Middle East.

  Trump says he knows who calls the shots in Iran after Khamenei’s killing

  President Donald Trump said he knows who is effectively “calling the shots” in Iran after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s killing in US and Israeli strikes, but declined to reveal the name.

  “I know exactly who, but I can’t tell you,” Trump told CBS News in a phone interview Saturday. 

  Asked whether there was someone he would like to see lead Iran, he replied: “Yes, I think so. There are some good candidates.”

  US launched ‘most lethal’ aerial operation against Iran, Hegseth says

  U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the United States launched “Operation Epic Fury,” which he described as the “most lethal, most complex, and most-precision aerial operation in history,” carried out overnight on the orders of Donald Trump.

  Hegseth said on X that the US aimed to destroy Iran’s missile program.

  "The United States did not start this conflict, but we will finish it. If you kill or threaten Americans anywhere in the world — as Iran has — then we will hunt you down, and we will kill you," he said.

  
  

  More....
  

  
  

The opening salvo

The opening salvo

Gold & Geopolitics

It started around 8:30 in the morning. Explosions in Tehran. Sirens across Israel. Trump at a podium talking about “defending the American people” from a country 9,800 kilometres away – a country that had not attacked the US in any way, and that Washington had been negotiating with just the day before.

And just like that, we’re at war again.

The strikes were billed as Israeli “preemptive action”. The first wave hit Khamenei’s compound, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Ministry of Defense, the Atomic Energy Agency, the presidential palace, Parchin. Two waves, rapid succession. A decapitation attempt dressed up in the usual vocabulary – precision, surgical, necessary.

What followed was anything but.

The Iranian Defense Minister and IRGC commander Pakpour were confirmed killed. The Head of the Judiciary too. As for Khamenei himself – at the time of writing, nobody actually knows. Israeli media put the odds of him having survived at “slim to none”. An hour later, Iranian state TV announced he would “speak within minutes”. That was hours ago. He still hasn’t appeared. His Foreign Minister, when asked directly, said “he’s alive as far as I know”. Not exactly the confident “the Supreme Leader is in good health” you’d expect from a functioning government.

So either Khamenei is dead and they’re managing the information, or he’s in a bunker somewhere with limited communications. Neither is great for the “this will all be over in four days” thesis.

Worth noting: Iran’s internet was cut early on. Cyber attacks hit IRNA and other state media outlets in the opening hours. The regime went dark on communications almost immediately – which tells you they expected this and had protocols for it, but also means any information coming out of Tehran right now needs to be treated with serious skepticism.

Another thing that was noteworthy: Iran’s response was fast. Remarkablyfast – coordinated strikes on US bases across seven countries within hours. Either they’re extraordinarily well-prepared – which they probably were – or they had some advance warning. China operates reconnaissance satellites that probably tracked the strike packages forming up over Israel and the Mediterranean. Beijing and Tehran share intelligence. Add to that the number of countries whose airspace US and Israeli aircraft transited, the communications that would have involved, and the known history of intelligence penetration in this region, and I wouldn’t rule out that Iran had foreknowledge of the timeline. Someone, somewhere, may have talked.

What’s not in doubt is the scale and speed of what came back.

Within hours, ballistic missiles were in the air. Not a trickle. Wave after wave after wave – at Israel, at Bahrain, at Qatar, at Kuwait, at the UAE, at Saudi Arabia, at Jordan, at Iraq. An Iranian parliamentary official put it succinctly: “We set fire to US bases in seven countries – and that was only a warm-up”.

The US Navy’s 5th Fleet “Jufair” headquarters in Bahrain burned. A Shahed-136 kamikaze drone took out a radar dome inside the base before the ballistic salvos landed, leaving air defenses partially blind before the heavier hits came. Multiple confirmed impacts.

In Qatar, the Al-Udeid Air Base – home of CENTCOM – was hit:

And then the strike that matters the most strategically: the IRGC announced the complete destruction of the AN/FPS-132 Block 5 early warning radar.

This is not a piece of equipment you replace next Tuesday. It cost $1.1 billion. Its range: 5,000 kilometres. Its sole function: detecting ballistic missile launches from deep inside Iran, Russia and China. It gives you the few precious minutes to scramble interceptors before the heavy ordnance arrives.

Kuwait wasn’t spared either. Ali Al-Salem Air Base confirmed hit. Kuwait International Airport struck by a Shahed drone (see below). The US Embassy in Kuwait issued an immediate “Shelter in Place” order. Kuwait – supposedly the logistical rear of any Gulf operation – is now in the middle of it.

Then the UAE. Explosions near the Marina. A missile hitting a hotel on the Palm. Loud bangs over Abu Dhabi, debris falling across Saadiyat Island, Khalifa City, the Bani Yas area. The UAE Ministry of Defense confirmed “successfully intercepting” a second wave – though what they called success involved debris raining on residential areas.

What happens overnight matters more than what happened today. The blinding phase was preparation, not conclusion. Once you’ve confirmed the eyes are gone and the interceptor stocks are degraded, you bring in what you’ve been holding back. We’re almost certainly looking at an escalated barrage in the coming hours – into Israel, possibly at the remaining US naval assets in the Gulf. Iran has explicitly threatened to sink the USS Abraham Lincoln. US warships have reportedly been pulling back toward the Indian Ocean. That tells you something about how the US military is reading the situation.

More...

DEVELOPING: Dubai’s Iconic Burj Al Arab Hotel on Fire After Being Struck by Iranian Drone (VIDEO)

DEVELOPING: Dubai’s Iconic Burj Al Arab Hotel on Fire After Being Struck by Iranian Drone (VIDEO)

Cristina Laila

Dubai’s iconic five-star Burj Al Arab hotel was struck by an Iranian drone on Saturday evening.

The US and Israel conducted military strikes on Iran on Saturday morning.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the military strikes.

Iran launched retaliatory strikes toward Israel and Dubai.

Dubai’s iconic Burj Al Arab was hit by an Iranian drone. Additional Iranian drones were intercepted near Dubai’s iconic skyscraper Burj Khalifa.

“Internationally acclaimed for its visionary architecture, Jumeirah Burj Al Arab defines Jumeirah’s exclusive Jumeirah Icons Collection – a celebration of properties renowned for their design, prestige, and extraordinary guest experiences. Behind its sail-like facade lies a collection of elegant suites, acclaimed dining, including Michelin-starred Al Muntaha, an award winning spa, and the stylish Sal beach club with infinite views of the Arabian gulf,” the hotel says on its website.

“Properties in the Jumeirah Icons Collection represent the most elite and exclusive hospitality experience available. Globally recognised properties in renowned locations, intentionally selected for their significance architecturally, historically, or environmentally,” the hotel says.

The Dubai Media Office said a drone was intercepted and shrapnel caused a ‘limited fire’ on the exterior of the hotel.

“The competent authorities in Dubai announced that a drone had been intercepted, and its shrapnel caused a limited fire on the exterior facade of the Burj Al Arab Hotel, and civil defense teams were able to control the incident without any injuries occurring,” they said.

In a follow up post, the Dubai Media Office said the debris caused a fire at the bottom of the structure.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is Confirmed DEAD – Israeli Officials Say His Body Has Been Found

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is Confirmed DEAD – Israeli Officials Say His Body Has Been Found

Jordan Conradson

Israeli officials have reported that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead after the US and Israel’s strikes on Iranian targets.

This comes after reports suggested that the Ayatollah fled Tehran and was moved to a secure location during the strikes.

Per the BBC, Netanyahu said earlier there were “growing signs” that Khamenei is “gone.”

Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst reported on Netanyahu’s comments earlier with updates on the ongoing campaign in Iran. “The Israelis say they are still striking targets inside Iran,” Yingst reported.

Reuters:

The United States and Israel launched the most ambitious attack on Iran in decades on Saturday, and Israel said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in the operation.

Khamenei’s body has been found, a senior Israeli official told Reuters. Iran called the strikes unprovoked and illegal and responded with missiles fired at Israel and at least seven other countries, including Gulf states that host U.S. bases.

More from Axios:

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike Saturday as part of a massive joint military operation between the U.S. and Israel, Israel’s ambassador to Washington told U.S. officials.

An Israeli official confirmed to Axios that Khamenei is dead, according to Israeli intelligence.

Why it matters: The 86-year-old Khamenei led Iran for 35 years, making him one of the world’s longest-serving authoritarian rulers. His death is a massive blow to the regime and could accelerate its collapse, which U.S. and Israeli officials have stated as their explicit goal.