UNPRECEDENTED FORCE THREAT
Earlier, cheers had been heard as some Iranians celebrated early reports of the death of their longtime leader, but – after state media confirmed his killing – pro-government demonstrations also formed, chanting “Death to America!”.
As crowds demanded revenge – and Iran’s army announced strikes targeting US bases in the Gulf and Iraqi Kurdistan – Trump threatened to unleash “force that has never been seen before” and urged Iran’s people to rise up and seize power.
Iran’s first retaliatory strikes on Saturday had hit all the Gulf states apart from Oman, which had sought to mediate US-Iran talks. But on Sunday, the country’s commercial port of Duqm was hit by two drones, injuring a foreign worker, the Oman News Agency said, with a tanker off the sultanate’s coast also hit.
Outrage at Saturday’s wave of US and Israeli strikes against Iran, which killed 86-year-old Khamanei and some other senior figures, spilled over into neighbouring Iraq and Pakistan, where crowds attempted to storm US diplomatic missions.
In the Pakistani megacity of Karachi, at least eight people were killed during pro-Iran protests at the US consulate, according to Muhammad Amin, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation rescue service, who added that most had bullet wounds.
In Iran, the Red Crescent said strikes had left 201 people dead and injured hundreds more.
Iran’s judiciary confirmed that Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Khamenei, and the head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Pakpour, were both killed.
Iran responded to the strikes with a flurry of missile and drone strikes across the Middle East, killing at least two people in Abu Dhabi and another in Tel Aviv, before following up with a new wave after state media confirmed Khamenei’s death.