Iran hit with more strikes after Khamenei’s death – SABC News

Israel said on Sunday it had launched another wave of attacks on Iran, as Iranians grappled with uncertainty after the killing of their veteran supreme leader in U.S. and Israeli strikes a day earlier, while President Donald Trump warned Tehran of consequences for retaliation.

Hours after the U.S. and Israel said an air strike killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the military campaign, Iran’s state media confirmed the 86-year-old leader had died.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that he had been killed in a large-scale operation carried out by its air force.

In another blow for Iran’s leaders, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi was killed in the strikes, broadcaster Iran TV said.

“The United States will hit Iran with a force that has never been seen before,” Trump warned on Sunday, if the Middle East nation hit back after the strikes.

“Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever been hit before,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

He added, “THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”

Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, said a temporary leadership council would be set up.

He accused the United States and Israel of trying to plunder and disintegrate Iran and warned “secessionist groups” of a harsh response if they attempt action, state television said.

In remarks directed at Trump and his close ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said they had crossed a red line and would “pay for it”.

Iran’s air force conducted strikes on U.S. bases in Iraq’s mostly Kurdish area of the north and Gulf countries, Tasnim news agency reported.

A source briefed on the Israeli campaign told Reuters there had been no change in military strategy after the killing of Khamenei and that strikes would continue to target Iranian officials and missile infrastructure.

Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani expressed condolences over the killing of Khamenei, and urged Iranians to maintain unity in the face of attacks.

Pakistani police fired tear gas on Sunday to scatter protesters outside the U.S. consulate in the southern city of Karachi, a Reuters witness said, following news of Khamenei’s death.

Global air travel remained heavily disrupted as continued air strikes kept major Middle Eastern airports, including Dubai – the world’s busiest international hub – closed in one of the biggest aviation interruptions in recent years.

Several loud blasts were heard for a second day on Sunday in regional business hub Dubai and over Qatar’s capital of Doha, witnesses said, after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on the neighbouring Gulf states.

Puffs of white smoke from missile interceptions were glimpsed in the skies over Dubai, while billows of dark smoke rose over its port of Jebel Ali, one of the busiest in the Middle East.

Two people were injured after shrapnel fell from drones following an interception by air defences over two houses in Dubai, one of several Gulf Arab cities that pride themselves on stability.

Iran, which had said it would target U.S. bases if attacked, hit a range of other targets, keeping the major oil-producing Gulf on edge.

Air raid sirens sounded repeatedly across Israel early on Sunday, with a series of explosions heard in Tel Aviv as Israel’s sophisticated air-defence system sought to intercept the latest Iranian offensive.

There was no immediate report of damage or injuries.

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