A deadly US-Israeli strike on Saturday killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials. Defense Minister Aziz Nasser Zadeh, Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Mohammad Pakpour, Head of the Supreme Military Council Ali Shamkhani, Commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Air Force Seyyed Majid Mousavi, Deputy Intelligence Minister Mohammad Shirazi and other top officials were present at the meeting. They were all killed in the attack.

Khamenei, who has not been seen in public for several days, returned to his residence on Saturday for a security meeting. Iran has declared 40 days of mourning and seven days of national holidays for his death.

The Israeli military claimed that 30 bombs were dropped on the Supreme Leader's residence. Khamenei's daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were also killed in the attack, Iran's Tasmin news agency reported. According to Iran's constitution, an assembly of experts elects the Supreme Leader.

The assembly elects 88 clerics every eight years. The constitution states that a person with deep knowledge of the Shiite legal system, political ability, courage and administrative skills should be the Supreme Leader. Article 111 of Iran's constitution stipulates that an interim commission will take over until a new Supreme Leader is elected.

The commission consists of President Masoud Pejeskian, Supreme Court Chief Justice Gholam Hossein Mosseni and a cleric from the Guardian Council. Ayatollah Ali Reza Afridi was appointed to fill the vacant position of the Guardian Council on Saturday. This person will lead the country until the assembly formally elects a new leader.

Iranian President Peskov said that his country has the legitimate right to take revenge on the United States. He said in a condolence message, “The Islamic Republic of Iran considers it its duty and legitimate right to seek justice and take revenge against the perpetrators and orderers of this historic crime. It will devote all its strength to fulfilling this great responsibility and obligation.”

In response to the joint US-Israeli attack, Iran has launched retaliatory attacks on various cities in the Middle East. On Sunday morning, Iranian missiles exploded in Dubai, the UAE, Manama, the capital of Bahrain, and Doha, the capital of Qatar. But there were no reports of damage. 

Iran only targeted US military bases on Saturday. However, on the second day, Sunday, it also targeted shopping malls, hotels, pubs and public areas in various cities. On the first day, all Gulf Coordination Council (GCC) member states except Oman were attacked. On the second day, Oman's Duqm port was also attacked. Oman has condemned the move. Earlier, Oman had mediated three direct talks between the US and Iran.

Iran's Defense Ministry claimed that 137 missiles and 209 drones were fired at the UAE on Saturday. Smoke was also seen rising from Dubai's two largest buildings, Palm Jumeirah and Burj Al Arab. Similarly, Israel claimed to have dropped more than 1,200 bombs in a single day on Saturday. 

One person was killed and seven others were injured in the Iranian attack on Abu Dhabi's airport. At least 201 people have been killed in Iran during the Israeli attack, according to international media outlet Al Jazeera. This includes the 148 girls who died at a girls' primary school in Mina. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said it has attacked 27 US bases in the Middle East. Iran claims that the Israeli military's oil-rich headquarters in Hakkari and a security industrial complex were attacked.

US President Donald Trump has warned Iran not to retaliate. "They better not retaliate. If they do, we will hit them hard. A powerful blow like no one has ever seen before." Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the US attack. He has accused the US of killing Khamenei in violation of international law. He also said that Russia will remember Khamenei as an excellent statesman.

Meanwhile, thousands of protesters in Tehran, Isfahan and other cities have celebrated Khamenei's death. They thanked US President Trump. Anti-government protests began in Iran on December 28. But instead of addressing the public's anger, the government resorted to extreme repression. Iranians living in different countries of the world have also celebrated.

Protests have taken place in several places against the American invasion. Supporters of the Iranian regime have attacked the American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. At least 9 people have been killed when security forces opened fire.

Who is Khamenei, who has ruled for 37 years?

Khamenei was born in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, in 1939. His father is of Azerbaijani origin. He was previously a prominent Muslim leader in Iraq.

Khamenei has described his mother, Khadija Mirdamadi, as an enthusiastic woman who read the Quran and books. She instilled in her son a love of literature and poetry and later supported his son's movement against the rule of the Pahlavi dynasty.

Khamenei began his studies by learning the Quran at the age of four. He completed his primary education at the first Islamic school in Mashhad. He did not complete high school, but instead attended a theological school and studied under his father and prominent Islamic scholars of the time, such as Sheikh Hashem Ghazvini. In the following years, he pursued higher education in Najaf and Qom. 

In 1953, the Shah of Iran, with the support of the CIA and British intelligence (MI6), overthrew the elected government. Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq was imprisoned. Khamenei, who opposed this, was repeatedly arrested by the Shah's agents. He was then sentenced to exile in a remote city in southeastern Iran. He returned to participate in the 1978 protests that ended the Pahlavi regime. After the monarchy was overthrown, Ruhollah Khamenei became Supreme Leader. Ali Khamenei became Minister of Defense in 1980. His brief tenure as Minister of Defense led to the Iran–Iraq War. He was then given the role of supervisor of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

1981 proved to be a crucial year for Khamenei. This year, the opposition group Mojahedin-e Khalq attempted to assassinate him, but failed. He won the presidency that year. He is Iran's first clerical president. His tenure saw the eight-year Iran-Iraq War. Ali Khamenei became supreme leader after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khamenei, the founding leader of the Islamic Revolution, in 1989. He then began rebuilding the country's infrastructure that had been destroyed by the war with Iraq. More than a million people were killed in the conflict and the economy was devastated. 

However, in the name of the Cultural Revolution, the Islamic regime at this time spread strict religious practices and autocracy. These include mandatory hijab, banning women from driving, punishment for crimes according to Sharia law, requiring women to obtain their husband's permission to travel, execution of protesters on charges of espionage or treason, and repression of religious minorities. This led a society that was liberal before the Islamic Revolution to the opposite path. 

In 1997, reformist leader Mohammad Khatami won the presidency by a landslide. He advocated for better relations with the West. Meanwhile, Khamenei remained suspicious and distrustful of the West. Therefore, he began to ignore the country's president and build his own group of confidants. 

The Revolutionary Guard Corps was strengthened more than the national army. A large part of the national expenditure was spent on it. Because it was Ali Khamenei's trusted and reliable army. 

In 2009, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the presidential election. Like Khamenei, he was a staunch anti-Westerner. The country was gripped by protests over alleged rigged presidential elections. The protesters supported the reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. According to Amnesty International, thousands were arrested and dozens were killed. The Iranian leadership accused Western countries of fomenting unrest to overthrow their religious establishment. During his rule, liberals and democrats held large demonstrations within the country. The Iranian military used heavy force to suppress them, killing hundreds. In 2009, Khamenei's regime suppressed a popular protest against the Islamic government over alleged rigged presidential elections.

In 2015, Iran suffered greatly from international sanctions. He supported then-President Hassan Rouhani's talks with the West to ease economic pressure. This historic agreement, signed by Iran and world powers, agreed that Iran would not use its nuclear program to produce weapons. In return, Iran was promised unhindered access to international markets. However, Trump won the US presidency within two years of the agreement being signed. 

In 2018, he unilaterally announced that the US was withdrawing from the agreement. International sanctions were then reimposed on Iran. In response, Iran began to increase its uranium enrichment level again. According to the latest report, Iran's uranium enrichment level is around 60 percent. However, 80 to 90 percent uranium enrichment is required to make weapons.

Meanwhile, a large number of people were killed in protests against price increases in 2019 and in 2022 over the easing of the hijab ban. Iran has allied itself with Hezbollah in Lebanon, former President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Hamas in Palestine, Houthi rebels in Yemen, and armed groups in Iraq. Following Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel has repeatedly attacked Iran's allies in the Middle East. Iran was also finding it difficult to provide the necessary financial support to these allies due to Western sanctions.

Hamas in Palestine and Hezbollah in Lebanon were steadily weakened by Israeli attacks. In December 2024, rebels in Syria overthrew Bashar al-Assad. Realizing the weakening of Iran's allies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared aggressive. On June 13, 2025, the Israeli military, after informing the United States, attacked Iran. In this, senior commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and top nuclear scientists were killed.

Nuclear sites and civilian and military infrastructure were attacked. Iran responded by launching missiles at Tel Aviv. An all-out war lasted for almost two weeks. During this war, the United States attacked three of Iran's major nuclear facilities. In response, Iran also attacked a US military base in Qatar. However, it was not on a large scale.

After the 12-day war, there was a period of government support in Iran. However, as the economy was in shambles across the region, small traders began a movement on December 28. This movement was supported by all sections of society. The movement reached its peak on January 9-10. The Iranian army suppressed the movement. US President Donald Trump has been claiming that about 32,000 civilians were killed in this repression.