Israel hits Tehran as Iran counterattacks widen after supreme leaderkilled

wtvr.com · Mar 1, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the United States, throwing the future of the Islamic Republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early Sunday. President Donald Trump had announced his death hours earlier, saying it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint U.S. and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” was to continue through the week or longer. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the United States, throwing the future of the Islamic Republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability.Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old's death early Sunday. U.S. President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country.The announcements came after a joint U.S. and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” was to continue through the week or as long as necessary.Iran responded by firing drones and missiles at Israel and U.S. military installations around the Gulf, and also at the global business hub of Dubai. Earlier Sunday, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened to launch its “most-intense offensive operation” ever targeting Israel and U.S. bases.Israel also continued its attacks on Iran with an enormous strike that targeted Tehran. Israel hits Tehran as Iran's counterattacks widen after the supreme leader was killed Here is the latest: China calls the killing of Iran's supreme leader ‘unacceptable’ China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi sharply criticized the killing of Khamenei in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.“The blatant killing of the leader of a sovereign state and the incitement of regime change are unacceptable,” he was quoted as saying by China’s official Xinhua News Agency. “These actions violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations.”He said attacking a sovereign state without U.N. Security Council authorization undermines the foundation for peace established after World War II.“The international community should speak in a clear and unequivocal voice, opposing the world regressing to the law of the jungle,” he said. Serbia's embassy in Tehran is damaged Serbia says the country’s embassy building in Tehran was damaged in military strikes on Iran, but that no one was injured. The state RTS broadcaster posted a video of the building showing some windows shattered and glass on the ground. The report said that the apparent target was a military base that is located in the area.Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said embassy staff were pulling out and moving to Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. Serbia traditionally has good relations with Iran stemming from the era of the Communist-run former Yugoslavia which broke up in the 1990s. Iran names a third member to the leadership council Iran has selected a 66-year-old cleric to join the three-member leadership council that will govern the country until a new supreme leader is selected.Ayatollah Ali Reza Arafi has been a member of both constitutional watchdog Guardian Council and the Assembly of Experts that will choose the next leader. He was hand picked by late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a member of the Guardian Council in 2019.Arafi joins President Masoud Pezeshkian and head of judiciary cleric Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehei on the council. British warplanes poised to knock out Iranian missiles and drones British Defense Minister John Healey said Iranian missile and drone strikes came within a few hundred yards (meters) of a group of 300 British military personnel in Bahrain and that two missiles were fired in the direction of Cyprus, where the U.K. has bases.“We don’t believe they were targeted at Cyprus, but nevertheless, it’s an example of how there is a very real and rising threat from a regime that is lashing out widely across the region, and that requires us to act,” Healey told Sky News.He said British planes will intercept any Iranian drones and missiles they see.Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis posted on X that reports suggesting missiles had been fired toward Cyprus are not valid and that “there is no indication whatsoever that any threat to the country has occurred.” Putin, Hezbollah leader mourn Khamenei’s death Russian President Vladimir Putin said the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was “a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.”Putin on Sunday sent condolences to his Iranian counterpart, saying Khamenei will be remembered “as an outstanding statesman” who helped elevate Russian-Iranian relations.In Lebanon, the leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, Naim Kassem, mourned Khamenei’s death in a U.S.-Israeli strike, and said: “We will fulfill our duty in confronting aggression.” He vowed that Hezbollah will not abandon its resistance of confronting American and Israeli “tyranny.” Gold Star mom finds closure in US strikes on Iran: 'It's not a war — it's payback' Omani port struck by Iran has been used by US Navy The Omani port of Duqm that Iran struck Sunday has been used by the U.S. Navy as a logistical hub and is capable of hosting aircraft carriers.The U.S. and Oman signed a strategic framework agreement in 2019 that expanded the Navy’s access to Omani ports by allowing ships to dock in Duqm and Salalah.Both ports lie on Oman’s Arabian Sea coast, allowing ships to dock without having to transit the narrow Strait of Hormuz to access other major ports in the Persian Gulf. Oman and Iran front the Strait of Hormuz.The Navy has used access to Duqm for ship maintenance and replenishment, which typically involves activities such as refueling and loading of supplies. The United Kingdom also has a logistics base at the port.The sultanate of Oman has long tried to keep a lower profile in the region. It has frequently acted as a bridge between the U.S. and Iran, most recently mediating talks between the two countries in Geneva. Israel says it its strikes killed 40 top Iranian military officials Israel’s military claimed Sunday that its strikes had killed 40 top Iranian military officials, including the chief of staff for the Iranian armed forces, Abdolrahim Mousavi. Israel did not provide evidence, and neither Iran nor the United States immediately commented on the claim.The Israeli military also said it had “dismantled the majority of the aerial defense systems in western and central Iran” and was “paving the way towards establishing aerial superiority over the skies of Tehran.” Egypt’s leader warns of chaos in the Middle East Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt has warned that the Middle East could slide into chaos as the conflict involving the U.S., Israel and Iran entered a second day.He called for “dialogue and peaceful means” to settle the region’s crises, saying that the escalation has serious consequences that could push the Mideast into chaos. El-Sissi’s comments came in a phone call Sunday with Oman’s leader, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, according to the Egyptian leader’s office. Death toll in clashes at US Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, rises to 9 The death toll in clashes between Pakistani police and protesters who stormed the U.S. Consulate compound in Karachi has risen to nine.The Shiite protesters were enraged by the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in U.S. and Israeli strikes. Police said the protest on Sunday was later dispersed. Persian Gulf states repel attacks Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain have all reported intercepting incoming attacks.Qatar’s Defense Ministry says the country’s air force and air defense units intercepted missiles and drones fired from Iran, and that there were no casualties.The Bahrain News Agency, citing the National Communication Center, said the country intercepted a wave of missiles and drones launched by Iran. It said “limited” debris landed in a number of areas, without providing further details.Kuwait’s Defense Ministry said the military’s air defenses repelled “a number of hostile aerial targets” but did not mention any human or material losses. US Southern Command releases video of alleged Iran missile strike A woman and child hurt by shrapnel in Abu Dhabi The Abu Dhabi Media Office said shrapnel from a drone that was intercepted by air defense units fell at a tower in Abu Dhabi, lightly wounding a woman and her child.The office said that the sounds heard Sunday in the capital of the United Arab Emirates were those of successful interceptions. Oman says attack on oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz wounds 4 Oman says an oil tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz came under attack, wounding four mariners on board.The attack targeted a Palau-flagged vessel called Skylight, the state-run Oman News Agency said.It described the crew as Indian and Iranian.It wasn’t clear who attacked the vessel, but it came as authorities have said Iran has been threatening ships traveling the strait via radio since the United States and Israel launched its attack on Iran.Oman, which had served as an interlocutor between Tehran and Washington in recent nuclear talks, also said its port at Duqm was targeted in a drone attack.Oman has previously stayed out of the fray in years of tensions gripping the region. United Arab Emirates tells Iran: ‘return to your senses’ An adviser to the United Arab Emirates’ president says Iran “missed its target” with its attacks on the Arab Gulf states following US-Israeli strikes in Tehran.“Your war is not with your neighbors, and through th