Iran declares 40 days of mourning after killing of Khamenei

By Newsflash Writer and Agencies

Iran has begun 40 days of mourning after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in ongoing attacks by the United States and Israel, according to Iranian state media.

Top security officials were also killed in Saturday’s strikes, along with Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. The killings mark one of the most significant blows to Iran’s leadership since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the killing as “a great crime,” according to a statement from his office. He declared seven days of public holidays in addition to the 40-day mourning period.

Reporting from Tehran, journalist Tohid Asadi said people were pouring into the streets of the capital following news of Khamenei’s death.

“There will be ceremonies,” he said, noting they would likely take place amid continuing bombardment across the country.

Protests denouncing Khamenei’s killing were also reported in Shiraz, Yasuj, and Lorestan.

Footage aired by Iranian state media showed supporters mourning at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, with several people seen crying and collapsing in grief.

Regional protests and unrest

The killing sparked protests in neighbouring Iraq, which declared three days of public mourning. In Baghdad, demonstrators confronted security forces in the heavily fortified Green Zone, home to Iraqi government buildings and foreign embassies.

Videos verified by media outlets showed protesters waving flags and chanting slogans, with witnesses saying some attempted to mobilise towards the US Embassy. Footage also showed demonstrators blocking vehicles at a roundabout near one of the entrances to the area.

There was also a protest in the Pakistani city of Karachi, where footage showed people setting fire to and smashing the windows of the US consulate.

However, reports have also emerged of celebrations in Iran. Reuters quoted witnesses as saying some people took to the streets in Tehran, the nearby city of Karaj, and the central city of Isfahan.

Escalating tensions

The official IRNA news agency reported that a three-person council — comprising the country’s president, the chief of the judiciary, and one of the jurists of the Guardian Council — will temporarily assume leadership duties until a new supreme leader is elected.

Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, accused the United States and Israel of attempting to plunder Iran in an interview aired on state television.

He also called on Iranians to unite. “Groups seeking to divide Iran should know that we will not tolerate it,” he said.

Khamenei assumed leadership in 1989 following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had led the Islamic Revolution a decade earlier. While Khomeini was regarded as the ideological force behind the movement that ended the Pahlavi monarchy, Khamenei went on to shape Iran’s military and paramilitary apparatus, strengthening both domestic control and regional influence.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pledged revenge, stating it had launched strikes on 27 bases hosting US troops in the region, as well as Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv.

Explosions have continued to be reported in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, with security alerts in place across several countries in the region.