A joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran killed Ayatollah Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader for nearly four decades, and plunged the country into uncertainty, sparking a conflict that could engulf much of the Middle East.
President Donald Trump announced Khamenei’s death on Saturday, and Iranian authorities confirmed this. The US president said the bombing campaign “will continue uninterrupted this week, or as long as necessary to achieve our goal of peace in the Middle East, and indeed the world as a whole.” Israel continued shelling Iran on Sunday.
Iran responded with a series of unprecedented attacks across the Middle East, targeting several countries that host U.S. military bases, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
President Massoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that “bloodshed and revenge” was Iran’s “legitimate right and obligation.”
Here’s what we know so far:
In a Truth Social video announcing a “massive” attack on Iran, President Trump said the United States’ primary objective is “to protect the American people by eliminating the immediate threat from the Iranian regime.” Those threats include Iran’s nuclear program, he said, and claimed the White House had “completely” eliminated Iran’s nuclear program in June when it briefly joined Israel’s war against Iran.
The 12-day war significantly weakened the Islamic regime. It is also grappling with an economic crisis that has sparked nationwide protests this year. After a crackdown left thousands of protesters dead, President Trump said the US was “locked and loaded” and pledged to help them.
I’ve been having strange screen cracking for the past few weeks. While U.S. envoys were holding regular talks with Iran over a new nuclear deal, the Trump administration was amassing the largest military stockpile in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The final round of talks ended Thursday with Iran agreeing to “never” stockpile enriched uranium, but it was not enough to avert U.S. military action.
In a video, Trump accused Iran of denying “every opportunity to abandon its nuclear ambitions” and said the United States “cannot take it anymore.” He offered no evidence that Iran was even remotely close to acquiring nuclear weapons, and said it has been “always” US policy that “this terrorist regime will never have nuclear weapons.”
After nearly half a century of hostility between the United States and the Islamic regime, President Trump appears to be suggesting some closure is needed.
Citing the 1979 hostage crisis and the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut as examples, he said, “For 47 years, the Iranian regime has been shouting ‘death to America’ and waged an endless campaign of bloodshed against the United States.” “This is mass terrorism. We will not tolerate it any longer.”
The president also reiterated the controversial claim that Iran is building ballistic missiles that could reach the U.S. mainland. CNN previously reported that a 2025 unclassified assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said Iran could develop a “militarily viable” intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035 “if Iran decides to pursue that capability.”
Two sources said there was no intelligence support for claims that Iran had missiles that could soon attack the United States.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long considered Iran to be Israel’s most dangerous enemy. Israel launched a war against Iran last summer after the regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, a key Iranian ally, collapsed and Israel annihilated the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Israel suspended the conflict after the United States attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities, but analysts have long suspected that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would seize the opportunity to resume attacks on Iran. Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is up for election in October, may also see a return to war as an opportunity to strengthen his position at home.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday reiterated his insistence that the Islamic regime should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons in a video statement explaining why Israel would renew its attack on Iran.
The Israeli military suggested on Sunday that the attack was in retaliation for the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and said Israel “will not forget” the Iranian-sponsored attack. “We will continue to pursue Israel’s enemies, from the masterminds of the attack to the terrorists who took part in the massacre,” the spokesperson said.
Are the US and Israel seeking regime change?
In their statements, Trump and Netanyahu made clear their hopes for regime change in Iran even before Khamenei’s death was confirmed.
President Trump told Iranians that their “time for freedom is at hand” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to “throw off the yoke of tyranny.” President Trump also called on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to lay down their weapons or face “certain death.” It was not clear to whom the Revolutionary Guards would surrender, as the US attack was from the air rather than the ground.
Although there were scenes of Iranians celebrating Khamenei’s death, so far there is little sign that Iranians will heed Trump’s call and take to the streets en masse. In Ghaledar, Fars province, supporters of Khamenei’s death were seen tearing down a monument as fires burned nearby. But pro-regime crowds gathered separately in Tehran during the day on Sunday to mourn their leader’s death, and a state television news host wept as he confirmed Khamenei’s death.
The first salvo of the joint US-Israeli attack looked like a leadership decapitation operation. Images show severe damage to the heavily guarded compound that houses Khamenei’s residence and office in Tehran’s Pasteur district.
Israel claimed on Sunday that the “vast majority” of senior Iranian military leaders, including 40 commanders, were killed in the initial attack. Israel said that included Lt. Gen. Abdurrahim Mousavi, the chief of staff. Iranian media also confirmed Mousavi’s death.
Several other cities in Iran were also affected, including Minab, where the girls’ primary school had the highest death toll. Iranian state media reported that 148 people were killed there, with footage showing rows of small body bags outside damaged buildings, citing local prosecutors.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Defenders News Agency (HRANA) said as of late Saturday, at least 133 civilians had been killed and 200 injured in the coordinated attacks on Iran. Iranian state media put the death toll at more than 200 people and more than 700 injured.
Israel announced on Sunday that it was carrying out a new attack on Tehran. Video from the capital showed multiple large explosions in various parts of the city, including around the landmark Azadi Tower in the city’s west.
Iran retaliated with a series of unprecedented attacks across the Middle East, targeting Israel and several neighboring countries that host U.S. military bases. President Masoud Pezeshkian, who appears to have survived the airstrike, said “bloodshed and revenge” were Iran’s “legitimate rights.”
Explosions were also reported in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iran’s main regional rival Saudi Arabia, which vowed to take “all necessary measures” to protect itself. Even Oman, which mediated the recent negotiations between the US and Iran, has faced criticism.
Hasan al-Hasan, a senior fellow on Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, said the airstrike showed that “everything is on the table” for Iran.
Hasan told CNN that Iran’s strategy is to “increase the suffering of the Gulf states and force them to put pressure on the Trump administration to end the war quickly.” However, he said this strategy is likely to backfire, as it is unclear how much influence Gulf states have over the Trump administration, and mass casualty events could cause them to “start considering options to move up the escalation ladder.”
Dubai, a haven for tourists and expats, aired dramatic footage on Saturday of people fleeing smoke-filled hallways at the international airport. Officials confirmed that four staff members were injured. The Fairmont Hotel, a luxury residential development on the Palm Jumeirah Islands, was also damaged, with photos showing flames and holes in the exterior walls.
One person was killed and seven others were injured at Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, also in the UAE. In addition to Kuwait International Airport, three buildings in Bahrain’s Manama and Muharraq cities were also damaged.
The collision disrupted traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that there were no combat-related casualties in the U.S. operation against Iran, and damage to U.S. military facilities was kept to a minimum.
Iran’s priority is to appoint its next supreme leader, a task the regime has only completed once in more than 30 years. A select body of 88 senior clerics known as the Council of Experts will choose Khamenei’s successor.
Under the constitution, when the supreme leader steps down, his powers are temporarily transferred to a council made up of the president, the attorney general, and senior clergy from the Guardian Council until the Assembly of Experts elects a new leader.
On Sunday, Iran established an interim leadership council, naming President Massoud Pezeshkian, Attorney General Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, and senior cleric Alireza Alafi as members.
President Trump told CBS News Saturday evening that diplomacy with Iran is “obviously much easier now than it was a day ago.” He said there were “some good candidates” to take power, but he did not name names.
The last time the United States attacked Iran in June, the operation was over within hours. Now, officials have told CNN that the U.S. military is planning a multi-day attack, suggesting a broader purpose.
