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Iran carried out retaliatory attacks as the region was pushed to the brink after the US and Israeli attacks killed its supreme leader.
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Published March 1, 2026
Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei was killed along with top security officials in a U.S. and Israeli attack as Tehran promised “vengeance” for the killing of its supreme leader.
Khamenei’s killing is a serious setback for Iran, which has killed more than 200 people in attacks in 24 of its 31 provinces since Saturday. Iran’s retaliatory attacks have targeted Israel and neighboring Gulf states that host U.S. military assets.
Ayatollah Khamenei, 86, was killed in a strike at his office in Tehran. The supreme leader’s daughter, son-in-law and grandson were also killed in the attack.
Here’s what happened so far on day 2
Inside Iran
The Israeli military announced Sunday that it had launched attacks on targets deep inside Tehran, a day after Khamenei was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) announced a sixth wave of “massive missile and drone” attacks targeting Israeli military assets and 27 US military bases in the Middle East in retaliation. Iranian state media confirmed the killings of Khamenei as well as Security Adviser Ali Shamkhani and Supreme Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Mohammad Pakpour. According to Hamshahari newspaper, Ahmad Vahidi has been appointed as the new supreme commander of the Revolutionary Guards. Al Jazeera could not independently verify this news. Iranian army chief of staff Abdul Rahim Mousavi and defense minister Aziz Nasirzadeh were also killed in the attack. According to a report on Iranian state television, a three-person council consisting of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the attorney general, and one of the jurists of the Guardian Council will temporarily assume all leadership duties in the country. Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, said plans were in place to establish an interim governing body to carry out Khamenei’s mandate. The attack on a girls’ elementary school in the southern Iranian city of Minab left 148 people dead and 95 injured. Supporters of Ayatollah Khamenei took to the streets in major Iranian cities, including Tehran and Isfahan, to mourn the killing of the supreme leader. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf, Iran’s most senior official to appear on camera since Khamenei’s killing, called the US and Israeli leaders “despicable criminals” and said they would face “a devastating blow that you yourself would beg for.”
Trump’s latest information
“Iran today said it will carry out a very severe attack, even more violent than any we’ve seen before,” US President Donald Trump said in a late-night Truth Social post. “But they better not do that. If they do, we will attack them with a force never seen before!” he added. President Trump said in an interview with CBS News that he believes the United States is in a good position to reach a diplomatic solution with Iran. “Obviously, it’s a lot easier now than it was a day ago,” Trump said, adding, “Because they’re being treated badly.”
Israeli attack and Iranian retaliation
Israeli emergency services have announced that one Israeli woman was killed and 121 others were injured (most with minor injuries) in a series of Iranian missile attacks. Air raid sirens continue to sound in and around Tel Aviv. The Israeli military said most of these missiles and drones were intercepted or shot down, but some managed to break through in Tel Aviv and Beit Shemesh, a city west of Jerusalem. The Israeli military said it had hit more than 30 targets in a further wave of attacks against western and central Iran that “targeted the Iranian terror regime’s ballistic missile arrays and air defense systems.” The Israeli military statement added that attacks on Iranian air defense facilities, missile bases, military headquarters and other “regime targets” will continue.
Iran continues to target Gulf region
At least 11 explosions were heard over Qatar on Sunday morning. Qatar’s Interior Ministry announced that a total of 16 injuries were recorded following the Iranian attack. Oman’s Duqm commercial port was attacked by two drones, injuring one person, state news agency reported on Sunday. Oman was acting as an intermediary between the United States and Iran. Oman’s Maritime Security Center said on Sunday that the Palauan-flagged oil tanker Skylight was targeted about 5 nautical miles (9 km) off the coast of Musandam. “Twenty crew members were evacuated, but initial information is that four people were injured,” the statement said. Jordan’s defense systems intercepted the missile as it entered the airspace of the capital Amman and northern regions. The U.S. Embassy in Jordan issued a warning early Sunday, asking people to shelter in place. Sirens were also reported to have sounded in Kuwait as Iran continues its retaliatory attacks against US allies in the Gulf region. A day after a fire broke out at Dubai’s Palm Islands tourist attraction, more explosions were heard in Dubai. Debris from a drone intercepted by Dubai’s military sparked a fire at Jebel Ali port, a frequent port for U.S. naval vessels in the Gulf. Iraq’s leader Muqtada al-Sadr expressed “sadness and sadness” over the killing of Khamenei as protesters in Baghdad confronted security forces in an area that houses the country’s government, parliament and foreign embassies. Protests took place in neighboring Iraq, as well as in Indian-administered Kashmir and Pakistan. At least six people were killed and several others injured in a riot near the US consulate in the Pakistani port city of Karachi. Iraq has announced three days of mourning across the country following Khamenei’s killing.
At the United Nations Security Council
U.S. Ambassador Mike Walz said the attack on Iran was aimed at dismantling its ballistic missile capabilities, degrading its naval assets and ensuring that “the Iranian regime can never, ever threaten the world with nuclear weapons.” Russia’s UN special envoy strongly condemned the recent military attack on Iran, calling it “another act of unprovoked armed aggression.” “The US-Israeli military operation is a betrayal of diplomacy,” Vasily Nebenzia said. Chinese Ambassador Hu Kong called the US and Israeli attacks “brazen”, condemned the threat of force and called for respect for Iran’s “sovereignty, security and territorial integrity”. He said it was “shocking” that the U.S. and Israeli attacks occurred during diplomatic negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. The UN chief said the military action risks “setting off a chain of events that no one can control in the world’s most volatile region”, adding that “everything must be done” to prevent the spread of war across the Middle East.
What is the latest situation in the Strait of Hormuz?
Iran has moved to close the Strait of Hormuz, but ships in the Gulf have reported receiving warnings from the Revolutionary Guards that they will not be allowed to transit the strategic waterway. Reuters reported that the Revolutionary Guards ordered that “no vessels be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.” Almost 20% of the world’s oil consumption passes through the strait, making it one of the world’s most important oil export routes.
