Iran has declared a 40-day national mourning period following the reported killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in ongoing military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel, according to Iranian state media. The attack is being described as one of the most severe blows to Iran’s leadership structure since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Alongside Khamenei, several senior security officials were reportedly killed in Saturday’s strikes. Iranian media also stated that members of his family, including his daughter, son-in-law and grandson, were among those who died. The scale of the losses has sent shockwaves through the country’s political and military establishment.
President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the killing, calling it “a great crime” in an official statement released by his office. In addition to the 40-day mourning period, he announced seven days of public holidays to allow citizens to participate in commemorations and religious observances.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent Tohid Asadi said large crowds gathered in the capital shortly after the announcement, with people pouring into the streets in grief. Public mourning ceremonies are expected across the country, even as bombardments continue in several regions.
Demonstrations denouncing the killing were also reported in cities including Shiraz, Yasuj and Lorestan. State television aired footage from the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, showing mourners crying, collapsing in grief and holding vigils in honour of the late leader.
The impact of the killing extended beyond Iran’s borders. In neighbouring Iraq, authorities declared three days of public mourning. In Baghdad, protests erupted in the heavily fortified Green Zone, where government offices and foreign embassies are located. Videos verified by Al Jazeera showed demonstrators waving flags and chanting slogans, with some attempting to move toward the US Embassy. Footage also captured protesters blocking vehicles near entrances to the area.
However, reports from the Reuters news agency indicated that not all reactions inside Iran were uniform. Witnesses said that in parts of Tehran, Karaj and Isfahan, some individuals were seen celebrating in the streets, reflecting deep divisions within Iranian society.
According to the official IRNA news agency, a temporary three-member council will assume leadership duties. The council, comprising the president, the head of the judiciary, and a jurist from the Guardian Council, will oversee the country until a new supreme leader is selected under constitutional procedures.
Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, accused the United States and Israel of seeking to destabilise and exploit Iran. Speaking on state television, he urged national unity and warned that attempts to divide the country would not be tolerated.
Khamenei had led Iran since 1989, succeeding Ruhollah Khomeini, the architect of the Islamic Revolution. While Khomeini laid the ideological foundation of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei expanded Iran’s military and paramilitary capabilities and consolidated domestic authority while strengthening Tehran’s regional alliances.
The conflict has continued to escalate across the Middle East. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowed retaliation, claiming it had launched strikes on 27 bases hosting US forces in the region, along with Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv. Explosions have been reported in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and security alerts remain active across multiple countries.
US President Donald Trump warned Iran in a social media post that any retaliation would be met with unprecedented force. Since Saturday, Iran’s reported counterattacks have targeted Israeli and US-linked assets across several countries, including Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Strategic analyst Harlan Ullman, chairman of the Killowen Group and adviser to the Atlantic Council in Washington, suggested that the assassination could have unintended consequences. He warned that leadership “decapitation” strategies rarely succeed unless an entire command structure is dismantled, and he expressed doubt that Iran’s leadership would immediately engage in negotiations.
Iranian state media reported that at least 201 people have been killed in the joint US-Israeli strikes across 24 provinces, citing figures from the Red Crescent. In the southern city of Minab, a strike on an elementary girls’ school reportedly killed at least 148 people and injured 95 others, with casualty figures continuing to rise.
The developments mark a dramatic escalation in regional tensions and raise urgent questions about Iran’s political future, the succession process, and the broader stability of the Middle East.
