Iran fired missiles at targets in Israel and Gulf Arab states on Sunday (March 1, 2026) after vowing massive retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by the United States and Israel, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to threaten Tehran against further escalation.
Iran acknowledged Khamenei’s death in the joint Israeli-American airstrike Saturday (February 28, 2026) at his Tehran office hours, which has thrown the future of the Islamic Republic into question and raised the risk of regional instability.
Iran-Israel conflict LIVE
The 86-year-old’s death at his office “showed that he consistently stood among the people and at the forefront of his responsibilities, confronting what officials call global arrogance,” Iranian state TV said.
Mr. Trump said the killing of Khamenei gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post.
Iran’s Cabinet vowed that this “great crime will never go unanswered”, and the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever, targeting Israeli and American bases.
“You have crossed our red line and must pay the price,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a televised address Sunday. “We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg.” “Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before,” Trump fired back in a social media post. “THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”.
Iran retaliates
After the initial strikes, Iran immediately launched missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. The Israeli military said Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel, with many intercepted. The Magen David Adom rescue service said Saturday(February 28, 2026) night that a woman in the Tel Aviv area died after being wounded in an Iranian missile attack
Flights across the Middle East were disrupted, and air defence fire thudded over Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ commercial capital, with explosions continuing into Sunday (March 1, 2026) morning. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the UAE capital killed one person, state media said, and debris from aerial interceptions caused fires at the city’s main port and on the facade of the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel.
The attack on Iran opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention, and carried the potential for retaliatory violence and a wider war, representing a startling flex of military might for an American president who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars.” The killing of Khamenei in the second Trump administration’s assault on Iran in eight months appeared certain to create a leadership vacuum, given the absence of a known successor and because the supreme leader had final say on all major policies during his decades in power. He led Iran’s clerical establishment and the Revolutionary Guard, the two main centres of power in the governing theocracy.
“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country,” Mr. Trump said.
Iran quickly formed a council to govern the country until a new supreme leader is chosen.
State media also reported the deaths of the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and a top security adviser to Khamenei in airstrikes. Major General Mohammad Pakpour took over as the Guard’s top commander after Israel killed its past commander in the 12-day war last June. The adviser, Ali Shamkhani, had long been a figurehead within Iran’s security establishment, IRNA said.
As reports trickled out about Khamenei’s death, eyewitnesses in Tehran told The Associated Press that some residents were rejoicing, cheering from rooftops, blowing whistles and letting out ululations.
Mourners raised a black mourning flag over the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city and a major pilgrimage site for Shiite Muslims. The Iranian government declared 40 days of public mourning and a seven-day nationwide public holiday to commemorate Khamenei’s death.
Citing unidentified sources, the semiofficial Fars news agency, believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guard, reported that several relatives of Khamenei were also killed, including a daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and grandchild.
Published – March 01, 2026 12:00 pm IST
