How long will it last? Will it grow? What will the conflict and the reported death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei mean to us, and to global security overall? Those questions echoed across the Middle East and the planet on Saturday (February 28, 2026) as world leaders reacted warily to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that Khamenei was dead, calling it “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.” Iranian state media said early Sunday (March 1, 2026) the 86-year-old leader had died without elaborating on a cause.
Iran-Israel conflict LIVE: Iran Guards vow ‘most ferocious offensive operation’ against U.S. bases, Israel after Khamenei killed
Israeli officials previously told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that Khamenei was dead. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a televised address, said there were “growing signs” that Khamenei had been killed when Israel struck his compound early Saturday (February 28, 2026).
The apparent demise of the second leader of the Islamic Republic, who had no designated successor, would likely throw its future into uncertainty — and exacerbate already growing concerns of a broader conflict. The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting.
Perhaps cautious about upsetting already strained relations with Mr. Trump, many nations abstained from commenting directly or pointedly on the joint strikes but condemned Tehran’s retaliation. Similar to Europeans, governments across the Middle East condemned Iran’s strikes on Arab neighbours while staying silent on the U.S. and Israeli military action.
Other countries were more explicit: Australia and Canada expressed open support for the U.S. strikes, while Russia and China responded with direct criticism.
The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday (February 28, 2026), and Mr. Trump called on the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic theocracy that has ruled the nation since 1979. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the Middle East.
Some leaders urge resumption of talks
In a statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on the U.S. and Iran to resume talks and said they favoured a negotiated settlement. They said their countries didn’t take part in the strikes on Iran but are in close contact with the U.S., Israel and partners in the region.
The three countries have led efforts to reach a negotiated solution over Iran’s nuclear program.
“We condemn Iranian attacks on countries in the region in the strongest terms. Iran must refrain from indiscriminate military strikes,” they said. “Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future,” they said.
Later, at an emergency security meeting, Mr. Macron said France was “neither warned nor involved” in the strikes. He called for intensified efforts for a negotiated solution, saying “no one can think that the questions of Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic activity, regional destabilisation will be settled by strikes alone.”
The 22-nation Arab League called the Iranian attacks “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of countries that advocate for peace and strive for stability.” That coalition of nations has historically condemned both Israel and Iran for actions it says risk destabilising the region.
Morocco, Jordan, Syria and the United Arab Emirates denounced Iranian strikes targeting U.S. military bases in the region, including in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the Emirates.
Under former President Bashar Assad, Syria was among Iran’s closest regional allies and a staunch critic of Israel, yet a statement from its Foreign Ministry singularly condemned Iran, reflecting the new government’s efforts to rebuild ties with regional economic heavyweights and the United States.
Saudi Arabia said it “condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the treacherous Iranian aggression and the blatant violation of sovereignty.” Oman, which has been mediating the talks between Iran and the U.S., said in a statement that the U.S. action “constitutes a violation of the rules of international law and the principle of settling disputes through peaceful means, rather than through hostility and the shedding of blood.”
Careful wording is (mostly) the order of the day
New Zealand refrained from full-throated support but acknowledged on Saturday (February 28, 2026) that the U.S. and Israeli attacks were keeping the Iranian regime from remaining an ongoing threat. “The legitimacy of a government rests on the support of its people,” New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a joint statement. “The Iranian regime has long since lost that support.”
Countries in Europe and the Middle East used careful wording, avoiding perceptions that they either support unilateral American action or are directly condemning the United States.
Others were more blunt. Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the strikes “a pre-planned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state.” The Ministry accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding behind” concerns about Iran’s nuclear program while actually pursuing regime change.
Similarly, China’s government said it was “highly concerned” about the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and called for an immediate halt to the military action and a return to negotiations. “Iran’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity should be respected,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said.
Despite recent tensions with the U.S., Canada also expressed its support for the military action. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said.
Concerns expressed of new, extensive’ war
Nervousness is perceptible across multiple countries. Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that he was concerned the failure of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran meant a “new, extensive war in the Middle East.”
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons condemned the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in harsher words. “These attacks are totally irresponsible and risk provoking further escalation as well as increasing the danger of nuclear proliferation and the use of nuclear weapons,” said its executive director, Melissa Parke.
EU leaders issued a joint statement on Saturday (February 28, 2026) calling for restraint and engaging in regional diplomacy in hopes of “ensuring nuclear safety.” The Arab League, too, appealed to all international parties “to work towards de-escalation as soon as possible, to spare the region the scourge of instability and violence, and to return to dialogue.”
Published – March 01, 2026 09:39 am IST
