Iranian Supreme leader Khamenei killed in US-Israeli strikes

Iran launches retaliatory attacks, Middle East peace in limbo

Tehran/New Delhi, Mar 1: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a coordinated US-Israeli military strike on Tehran early Sunday, triggering Iranian retaliatory attacks on US bases in many countries, threatening destabilisation of the entire Middle East.

Ali Khamenei was killed in strikes that targeted areas in northern Tehran, including locations near his compound and offices. Multiple missiles hit areas close to the presidential palace and the Supreme Leader’s residence.

Some top security officials were also killed in Saturday’s strikes, along with Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law and grandson. The reports, however, could not be confirmed.

Iran’s police intelligence chief Gholamreza Rezaian was also killed during the strikes, Iranian media reported. “General Gholamreza Rezaian, head of the national police intelligence, was killed following the enemy attacks,’’ Iran’s Fars news agency said.

The killings mark one of the most significant blows to Iran’s leadership since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Photos released by the White House showed President Trump closely monitoring the strikes on Iran from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe during the tense operation.

Trump, while announcing Khamenei’s death on his social media platform, said ‘’Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans…’’ Trump also said ‘’other leaders’’ had been killed along with him (Khamenei). He, however, did not name those leaders.

Trump said Khamenei was unable to avoid US Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems, and, working closely with Israel, there was nothing he or the other leaders who had been killed along with him, could do.

He said the US has been hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces no longer wanted to fight, and were looking for Immunity from the US. He offered immunity to the Iranian soldiers, saying, “Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!”

Trump also warned that the ‘’heavy and pinpoint bombing would continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of Peace throughout the Middle East and the world.’’

In retaliation, Iran launched a new wave of missile and drone strikes on Sunday targeting US military bases in the region and Israel, state media said. Twenty-seven US bases in the region, as well as Israel’s military headquarters and a Defence industries complex in Tel Aviv, were among the targets, Iranian state TV said.

The IRGC announced that in the fifth wave of Operation True Promise4 (Iran has named the Operation True Promise4) in the Indian Ocean, the MSP ship, which was carrying ammunition for American vessels, was hit by four drones at the Jebel Ali anchorage and was completely disabled with damage and explosions.

It said four ballistic missiles and 12 drones hit the American naval base in the Abdullah Mubarak area of Kuwait. All the infrastructure was destroyed, and a large number of American forces were killed and injured.

Also, the MST-class combat support ship, which was carrying fuel for American vessels in the Indian Ocean, was hit by Iranian Qadr 380 missiles. The IRGC Navy, along with the air force, ‘’will keep the gates of hell open to enemy units,’’ the IRGC said.

It said the American FP-132 radar, with a range of 5,000 kilometres and stationed in Qatar, equipped with unique technology used to intercept ballistic missiles, has been destroyed.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed retaliation for the killing of Ali Khamenei, warning that those responsible would “regret it.” “This great crime will never remain unanswered,” his office said in a statement on Sunday.

Trump warned, saying ‘’Iran just stated they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before. They better not do that. However, if they do, we will hit them with a force that has never been seen before.’’

The Middle East airspace has been severely disrupted. Iran, Israel, Iraq, the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar have all indefinitely closed their airspace, causing massive flight diversions and groundings worldwide.

Iran began 40 days of mourning and seven days of public holidays after the Supreme Leader’s death.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the killing as “a great crime”, according to a statement from his office.

Footage aired by Iranian state media showed supporters mourning at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad. The killing also led to protests in Iraq, which declared three days of public mourning. In Baghdad, protesters confronted security forces in the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses Iraqi government buildings and foreign embassies.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pledged revenge and said 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, while security alerts are in place in several countries across the region.

In Pakistan, protestors stormed the US Consulate in Karachi on Sunday. A group of locals carrying sticks marched inside the gates of the US Consulate. A few of them attacked the windows of the building, where the American flag was hoisted.

Police and paramilitary forces used batons and tear gas to disperse the crowds, according to a police official. At least six people were reportedly killed, and eight were injured during clashes between the Police and locals in Karachi.

Thousands of people staged massive demonstrations in Kashmir to denounce the Iranian Supreme Leader’s killing. Protestors chanted slogans “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.”

IRNA news agency reported that a three-person council, consisting of the country’s president, the chief of the judiciary, and one of the jurists of the Guardian Council, will temporarily assume all leadership duties in the country. The body will temporarily oversee the country until a new Supreme Leader is elected.