After Khamenei's death in an Israeli-US attack, Iran begins a 40-day mourning period.

 

an confirms Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei dead after US-Israeli attacks (Image: Al-Jazeera)

According to Iranian state media, Iran has begun a 40-day period of mourning following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in ongoing US and Israeli attacks. Top security officials were also killed in Saturday’s strikes, along with Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law and grandson.  One of the most significant blows to Iran's leadership since the Islamic revolution in 1979 comes in the form of these murders. A statement from his office said that President Masoud Pezeshkian called the killing "a great crime." In addition to the 40 days of mourning, he also declared seven public holidays. Al Jazeera's Tohid Asadi said in a report from Tehran that people were pouring into the streets of the capital following the news of Khamenei's death. He stated, "There will be expected ceremonies," noting that they would likely take place amid the nation's ongoing bombardment. Other places, like Shiraz, Yasuj, and Lorestan, also reported protests against Khamenei's death. He stated, "There will be expected ceremonies," noting that they would likely take place amid the nation's ongoing bombardment. 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.

 The killing also led to protests in neighbouring Iraq, which declared three days of public mourning.  In the heavily fortified Green Zone, which is home to Iraqi government buildings and foreign embassies, protesters clashed with security personnel in Baghdad.

Protesters demonstrate near the entrance of the Green Zone after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 1, 2026 [Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters]

Al Jazeera-verified videos showed demonstrators yelling slogans and waving flags, and witnesses claimed that some of them were attempting to mobilize in the direction of the US Embassy. Protesters were also captured obstructing traffic at a roundabout close to one of the area's entrances. The Reuters news agency quotes witnesses as saying that some people had taken to the streets in Tehran, the nearby city of Karaj, and the central city of Isfahan for the celebrations. In the meantime, the official IRNA news agency reported that the country's president, chief of the judiciary, and one of the Guardian Council jurists will temporarily assume all leadership responsibilities. The body will temporarily oversee the country until a new supreme leader is elected.

 In an interview that was shown on state television, Ali Larijani, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said that Israel and the United States were trying to steal Iran. He also called on Iranians to unite.  He added, "Groups attempting to divide Iran should be aware that we will not tolerate it." Following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had led the Islamic revolution a decade earlier, Khamenei took over as the leader of Iran in 1989. While Khomeini was regarded as the ideological force behind the revolution that ended the Pahlavi monarchy, Khamenei went on to shape Iran’s military and paramilitary apparatus, strengthening both its domestic control and its regional influence.

Attacks across the region

In the meantime, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared that it had carried out strikes on 27 bases in the region that housed US troops as well as Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv, promising vengeance. Explosions have continued to be reported in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, while security alerts are in place in several countries across the region.

In a post on social media on Sunday, US President Donald Trump warned Iran that if it retaliated, it would be hit “with a force that has never been seen before.” Since Saturday, Iran has launched retaliatory attacks against Israel and US assets in a number of Middle Eastern nations, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. According to Harlan Ullman, chairman of the Killowen Group, a Washington, DC-based strategic advisory firm and adviser to the Atlantic Council, the US may have committed a "big mistake" by assassinating Khamenei. “Decapitation only works when you get all the leaders, and I don’t think that we got all the leaders,” Ullman said, adding that the US should not expect Iran’s leadership to enter negotiations in the immediate aftermath.

 According to the Red Crescent, the joint attacks by the US and Israel in 24 provinces have resulted in the deaths of at least 201 people, as reported by Iranian state media on Saturday. According to state media, a strike on a elementary girls' school in Minab on Saturday in southern Iran resulted in at least 148 deaths and 95 injuries, with the death toll continuing to rise.

Source: Al-Jazeer

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