Iran’s supreme leader is dead after US-Israeli strikes, triggering retaliatory missile attacks, Gulf explosions and a major regional escalation.

PARIS: Iranian state television confirmed the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday, following a massive joint military operation by the United States and Israel that began on Saturday.

The announcement, which included archive footage with a black banner, also reported the deaths of Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter in the strikes.

US President Donald Trump had announced Khamenei’s killing hours earlier on his Truth Social platform, calling him “one of the most evil people in History” and vowing that “heavy and pinpoint bombing… will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week”.

Trump later warned Iran against further retaliation, stating “THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”

Iranian state television announced a 40-day mourning period and seven public holidays, while the country’s judiciary confirmed that Revolutionary Guards chief General Mohammad Pakpour and top security adviser Ali Shamkhani were also “martyred”.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and two other senior officials will lead the country during a transitional period following Khamenei’s death.

The Israeli military stated that its extensive attack, involving 200 fighter jets, targeted multiple sites in Tehran where senior Iranian officials had gathered and hit more than 500 targets overall.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks killed senior Iranian officials and warned that thousands more targets would be struck in the coming days.

In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and other American bases in the Gulf on Saturday, launching waves of missile and drone attacks.

The Guards pledged on Sunday to launch the “most ferocious” operation in history against Israel and US military bases following Khamenei’s death.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service reported one woman killed and at least 21 injured in the Tel Aviv area from the Iranian strikes.

The Iranian judiciary claimed 108 people died in a strike on a girls’ school in Minab, though AFP could not independently verify the toll.

AFP journalists reported new powerful blasts in Tehran on Sunday and also heard explosions across the Gulf cities of Dubai, Doha and Manama, with thick black smoke seen rising in Doha.

The United Arab Emirates said two people, including a Pakistani civilian, were killed in Abu Dhabi after its defence ministry reported intercepting 137 missiles and 209 drones.

Witnesses in Dubai reported an explosion and missiles streaking across the sky, with four people injured and smoke seen rising from The Palm island.

Qatar’s defence ministry said it intercepted several missile attacks, while two people were killed in strikes on an Iraqi base housing the pro-Iran Kataeb Hezbollah group.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also moved to close the vital Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil and gas shipping route.

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting, where Iran’s envoy accused the US and Israel of a possible “war crime” for attacking civilians.

UN chief Antonio Guterres warned that military action in the Middle East “carries the risk of igniting a chain of events that no one can control”.

Gulf states condemned Iran’s “cowardly” attacks in a joint statement, while Russia slammed the US-Israeli strikes as a “dangerous adventure” that could spark regional “catastrophe”.

Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, the UAE and Israel all closed their airspaces to civilian traffic, with multiple airlines cancelling flights to the region and Russia halting commercial flights to Iran and Israel.

 The Sun Malaysia