War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran’s judiciary has confirmed that US and Israeli strikes killed the chief of the Revolutionary Guards and another top security advisor, AFP reports.

The Guards’ commander, General Mohammad Pakpour, and Ali Shamkhani, the head of the national defence council, were “martyred” in Saturday’s attacks, the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan online news portal reported.

Cuba has condemned the US and Israel’s attack on Iran, which it termed a “flagrant violation” of the UN charter and international law.

In a statement, the Cuban embassy in the US said, “This irresponsible and deliberate aggression boycotts, for the second time, the efforts of international diplomacy in relation to the nuclear issue, which had been under negotiation.

“Once again, the United States and Israel threaten and seriously endanger regional and international peace, stability, and security, the effects of which are already being felt in the Middle East region,” the statement said.

Iran state television has announced a 40-day mourning period and seven public holidays following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, AFP reports.

“With the martyrdom of the supreme leader, his path and mission neither will be lost nor will be forgotten; on the other hand, they will be pursued with greater vigour and zeal,” a presenter said.

Police in Ecuador say there was a protest at the Iranian Cultural Centre in its capital Quito, where people who entered the building armed with sticks and stones broke windows and left at least one person injured, according to Reuters.

The person was taken away in an ambulance and is not in serious condition, police major Bayron Flores says.

China’s ministry of foreign affairs has expressed concern over US-Israeli strikes against Iran and called for an immediate ceasefire, urging all sides to avoid escalation and to resume dialogue and negotiation, Reuters reports.

Today, China’s embassy in Israel issued a notice advising Chinese citizens in Israel to evacuate to safer areas within the country as soon as possible or to leave for Egypt via the Taba border crossing.

In a statement yesterday, the ministry said Iran’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity should be respected.

Separately, Hong Kong-based airline operator Cathay Group yesterday suspended operations in the Middle East, citing regional tension following the strikes.

The suspension affects passenger flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh, as well as freighter services operating through Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, Cathay, the parent of Cathay Pacific Airways, said in a statement.

It said it is re-routing flights that typically pass over the affected area.

A new series of powerful blasts were heard on Sunday in Tehran, AFP journalists in Iran reported.

The source of the blasts was not immediately clear.

About 90 minutes prior to that, detonations were also heard in the Iranian capital.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says “most intensive” offensive on Israel and US bases to begin in moments, Reuters reports, citing state media.

A new series of powerful blasts has been heard in Tehran, AFP journalists in Iran reported.

The source of the blasts, which went off at 5:30am, was not immediately clear.

About 90 minutes prior to that, detonations were also heard in the Iranian capital.

According to Reuters, Iranian state media reported that Khamenei “was carrying out his assigned duties and was present at his workplace (his office)”.

“This cowardly attack occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning”, state media said.

“We have lost a great leader, and we are mourning him, a leader who was unique in terms of purity of spirit, strength of faith, resourcefulness in affairs, courage in the face of the arrogant, and jihad in the path of God,” a statement from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said, Reuters reports.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have vowed “severe punishment” for the “murderers” of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israel attacks yesterday, AFP reports.

“The hand of revenge of the Iranian nation for a severe, decisive and regrettable punishment for the murderers of the Imam of the Ummah will not let go of them,” the Guards said in a statement.

Reuters, citing Iran’s state media, has reported that Supreme Leader Khamenei was killed in the early hours of Saturday.

State media also reported that Khamenei “was carrying out his assigned duties and was present at his workplace (his office)” when he was killed.

“This cowardly attack occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning”, state media said.

Khamenei, 86, became Iran’s highest authority in 1989, following the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

He remained in power after overcoming 1999 student demonstrations, 2009 mass protests sparked by disputed presidential elections and 2019 demonstrations that were brutally suppressed.

He also survived the 2022-2023 “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement sparked by the death in custody of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.

As supreme leader, he held ultimate control over Iran’s political, military and religious institutions, shaping domestic policy and guiding foreign relations.

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “will not be mourned”, as state media in the Islamic republic confirmed he had been killed.

“Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was responsible for the regime’s ballistic missile and nuclear program, support for armed proxies and its brutal acts of violence and intimidation against its own people,” Albanese told reporters, as per AFP.

“He was responsible for orchestrating attacks on Australian soil. His passing will not be mourned.”

Iran has announced 40 days of public mourning after it was confirmed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Israeli-US strikes, AFP quoted the Iranian state media as saying.

Additionally, seven public holidays have also been announced.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in Israeli and US strikes, Iranian state media said, according to AFP.

A presenter on state television announced Khamenei’s death at 5:00 am (0130 GMT), as the channel broadcast archive images with a black banner as a sign of mourning.

The Dubai Media Office has said that debris resulting from air interception operations caused a fire at one of the berths of Jebel Ali Port without any injuries occurring.

Dubai Civil Defence teams immediately responded and efforts are ongoing to control it, it said in a post on X.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said, “We will not tolerate powerful missiles targeting the American people. Those missiles will be destroyed, along with Iran’s missile production. The Iranian navy will be destroyed. And, as President Trump has said his entire life, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”

In his post on X, he also said: “The Iranian regime had their chance, yet refused to make a deal — and now they are suffering the consequences.”

He claimed that the US “did not start this conflict”, adding that however, “we will finish it”.

“If you kill or threaten Americans anywhere in the world — as Iran has — then we will hunt you down, and we will kill you.”

Loud blasts were heard in Tehran, an AFP journalist reported, though the cause was not immediately clear.

The sound of at least three explosions rang out in the Iranian capital around 4:00 am (00:30 GMT), according to the AFP journalist.

The UN nuclear watchdog has said that it had seen no “radiological impact” from US and Israeli attacks on Iran or retaliatory strikes in other countries in the region, though it did not say whether Iranian nuclear sites had been targeted.

“The IAEA is closely monitoring developments in the Middle East, and urges restraint to avoid any nuclear safety risks to people in the region,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said on X, Reuters reports.

“The IAEA is in permanent contact with countries in the region, so far, no evidence of any radiological impact.”

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry has said in a post on X that Bahrain International Airport has been “targeted” with a “drone, resulting in material damage without loss of life”.