President Donald Trump vowed on Sunday to avenge the first US casualties in the conflict he launched to topple Iran’s cleric-led regime as Iranian forces fired missiles and drones across the Middle East and the headquarters of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was reduced to rubble.
Trump indicated he was planning for around four weeks of operations following Saturday’s US and Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in the military action. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries described the strikes as the result of a “reckless decision" with no immediate threat to justify such preemptive action.
While some in the Iranian diaspora welcomed Khamenei’s death, anger flared in neighbouring Pakistan, where officials reported 17 deaths and protesters attempted to storm the US consulate in Karachi.
Major blow to elite force
The US military said it had destroyed the IRGC headquarters, the elite unit responsible for safeguarding Iran’s theocratic regime and influential in politics and economics. “America has the most powerful military on earth, and the IRGC no longer has a headquarters,” US Central Command said.
Iran’s surviving leaders condemned the strikes, describing their counter-attacks as legitimate self-defence.
In Israel, an Iranian missile strike killed at least nine people and injured dozens in the central city of Beit Shemesh, following a previous death near Tel Aviv. Sirens also sounded in northern Israel after projectiles were detected from Lebanon, where Hezbollah—diminished since a previous Israeli offensive—declared it had a duty to “confront the aggression".
President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose elected role is subordinate to the supreme leader, described Khamenei’s death as a “declaration of war against Muslims” and said Iran would “avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime".
Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned: “Today we will hit them with a force that they have never experienced before.”
The US–Israeli strikes followed weeks after Iranian authorities violently suppressed mass protests, initially sparked by economic grievances and calls for social freedoms, which were regarded as one of the most serious challenges to the regime since 1979.
Trump urged Iranians to rise up: “Seize this moment to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country. America is with you.”
Reza Pahlavi, son of the late pro-Western shah, cautioned citizens to remain vigilant during air strikes and await the right moment to protest while also calling for “nightly chants” against the Islamic Republic.
Celebrations erupted among some Iranians following reports of Khamenei’s death, but after state media confirmed it, pro-government demonstrations emerged, chanting “Death to America!”
Iran appointed Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to join Pezeshkian on an interim leadership council to guide the country until a permanent successor for the supreme leader is selected.
