Iran launched missile and drone attacks on US military installations across the Middle East and struck Tel Aviv on Saturday, hours after American and Israeli forces killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in airstrikes that have plunged the region into open conflict.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted 27 bases hosting US troops and Israeli military facilities in retaliation for Khamenei’s assassination. Explosions were reported in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and other locations as Iranian projectiles reached targets hundreds of kilometers from Iran’s borders.
At least 40 buildings in Tel Aviv sustained damage from Iranian missiles, forcing authorities to evacuate more than 200 residents to hotels, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing city officials. Photographs from the scene showed rescue workers and military personnel examining debris in residential neighborhoods.
The UAE Defense Ministry said Iran fired 137 missiles and 209 drones at the country. At least one person was killed and seven wounded in what authorities described as an “incident” at Abu Dhabi’s airport. Dubai’s airport, the world’s busiest for international traffic, was also hit. Falling drone debris injured two people in Dubai after interception operations by air defenses, the city’s media office said.
Smoke rose from Dubai’s port of Jebel Ali following strikes. Qatar Airways suspended all flights after Qatari airspace was closed.
Israel’s air force said it had dropped more than 1,200 munitions on Iran over the previous day in joint operations with the United States. Among the sites hit was an elementary girls’ school in Minab, a city in southern Iran’s Hormozgan province, where at least 148 people were reported killed and dozens injured.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “dozens of innocent children” were killed in the school attack, which he said would “not go unanswered.”
The Israeli military detected additional missile launches from Iran later Saturday and activated alerts across several areas. A statement said the air force was working to intercept threats but warned that “the defense is not hermetic.”
Protests erupted in multiple countries following Khamenei’s death.
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In Pakistan, demonstrators attempted to storm the US consulate in Karachi, setting fires and smashing windows, according to videos verified by Al Jazeera. Six people were killed and several injured in riots near the diplomatic mission, the Edhi rescue service said.
Thousands of Shia Muslims demonstrated in Indian-administered Kashmir, converging on the main square in Srinagar with red, black and yellow flags. Many chanted slogans against Israel and the United States.
“We all have a message for Trump,” one protester, 40-year-old Syed Towfeeq, told AFP. “We will always stand against your oppression. If you think that you have martyred our beloved leader, you are in an illusion.”
Similar protests occurred in other parts of Kashmir and areas of India with significant Shia populations.
Video from the Iranian city of Yasuj showed thousands beating their heads and chests, a traditional mourning practice. Similar scenes were reported in Lorestan province.
Yemen’s Houthi movement extended condolences to Iran’s people, calling Khamenei’s killing “a heinous crime” that represents “a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms.”
Two drones targeted the Omani port of Duqm, injuring one foreign worker, Oman News Agency reported, citing a security source. One struck mobile workers’ accommodation while debris from the second landed near fuel tanks, causing no material damage.
Iraq announced three days of national mourning. Government spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi said the killing came “as a result of a blatant aggression and a reprehensible act that violates all human and moral norms, and in clear violation of international laws and conventions.”
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Under Article 111 of Iran’s constitution, a temporary council composed of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Supreme Court Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and a religious leader from the Guardian Council will handle leadership duties until the Assembly of Experts formally selects a new supreme leader.
The strikes that killed Khamenei and other senior security officials marked a sharp escalation in hostilities between Iran and the United States, which have been adversaries for more than four decades. The two countries have fought proxy conflicts across the region but have rarely engaged in direct military confrontation on this scale.
Khamenei, 86, had held Iran’s highest office since 1989, wielding ultimate authority over all state matters. His death removes the figure who shaped Iranian domestic and foreign policy for more than three decades and maintained the country’s Islamic revolutionary ideology.
The succession process could take days or weeks, during which the provisional council will make critical decisions about Iran’s military response and diplomatic posture. The Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics, will meet to choose a permanent replacement.