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.

  
  

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