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A plume of smoke rises near Erbil international airport in Iraq on Sunday. Loud explosions were heard near the airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. Follow the latest developments, live. Photograph: Shvan Harki/AFP/Getty Images
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Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war on Iran. Here is where things stand:
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Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been killed, state media has confirmed, after the US and Israel launched a war on the country to trigger regime change. The US president had earlier announced the death of the ayatollah, who ruled Iran since 1989, in a post on Truth Social. “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead,” Trump wrote. His death was later confirmed by Iranian state media.
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It came after waves of air attacks across the country. Iran’s Red Crescent reported more than 200 deaths and 747 injuries in daylong attacks across 24 provinces.
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Witnesses in Tehran told the Guardian that people were celebrating in the streets after news of the possible death of the supreme leader.
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At least 100 people were reportedly killed in a strike that hit a primary school in Minab, in the south-east.
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Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had earlier said there were “many signs” Khamenei was “no longer alive”, and Israeli officials briefed media that his body had been recovered.
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Tehran fired retaliatory strikes against Israeli and US bases across the Middle East. Iran’s attacks targeted more than six countries, pulling in places that had been previously untouched by the escalating crisis.
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In Israel, one person died and 22 others are injured, media reports said, after an Iranian missile strike hit a building in Tel Aviv. An official said the building was aflame and had partially collapsed.
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In Dubai, a number of people were injured after an incident occurred at Dubai international airport, the Dubai media office has said. The Burj Al Arab and Fairmont hotels caught fire amid Iranian attacks.
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The United Arab Emirates said in a statement that it had intercepted the vast majority of the 137 missiles and 209 drones fired at its territory by Iran in the hours after the US and Israel launched a regime change war on the Islamic Republic.
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At least one person was killed and seven wounded during an “incident” at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed international airport, officials said after Iranian strikes targeting the United Arab Emirates and Gulf states.
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World leaders urged all sides to de-escalate and return to the negotiating table. The UK, France and Germany issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s retaliatory strikes on neighbouring countries, but the statement stopped short of complete support for the US-Israeli attacks.
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The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, said British planes were “in the sky today” in the Middle East “as part of coordinated regional defensive operations to protect our people, our interests and our allies”.
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The UN security council held an emergency meeting on Saturday. The session was requested by the permanent missions of France, Bahrain, China, Russia and Colombia, according to a statement by the permanent mission of Russia to the UN. The secretary general António Guterres said he “deeply regrets” that the opportunity for diplomacy had been “squandered”.
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In the US, Republicans largely welcomed the attack, but prominent Democrats condemned what they called an illegal aggression.
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Thousands of people have gathered in central Tehran to mourn the death of Khamenei, who had ruled Iran since 1989. Mourners, who were dressed in black and carried photos of the former leader, chanted “death to America” and “death to Israel”.
State media has reported that 40 days of public mourning and seven days of public holidays will be observed.
Several loud bangs heard over Dubai - reports
Several loud bangs were heard in the Dubai area for a second day on Sunday, witnesses told Reuters news agency. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on the neighbouring Gulf states in response to US and Israeli strikes, hitting a range of other targets.
Major shipping companies have suspended navigation through the Gulf, citing the evolving security situation in the Middle East.
French shipping company CMA CGM said in a statement it had told all of its vessels inside Persian Gulf, and bound to Persian Gulf, to proceed to shelter with “immediate effect”. It has also suspended passage through the Suez Canal until further notice.
Hapag-Lloyd, another major shipping company, said it was suspending all transit through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the open seas, “until further notice.”
Danish company Maersk has also warned clients of possible delivery delays due to ships being re-routed.
Sirens across central Israel and occupied West Bank
Air raid sirens were activated across central Israel and parts of the occupied West Bank on Sunday, as Israel’s military said it was responding to Iranian missile fire.
“Sirens were sounded in several areas across the country, following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel,” a military statement said, adding that the air force was “operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary”.
Loud explosions heard near Erbil airport
Loud explosions were heard early on Sunday near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, AFP reported. Thick black smoke was rising from the airport area.
On Saturday, US-led coalition forces downed several missiles and explosive-laden drones over Erbil.
More details are emerging on who will lead Iran during a transition period, following Khamenei’s death.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and another official from the country’s legal council will be part of the trio overseeing the transition, according to state television which cited Mohammad Mokhber, one of Khamenei’s advisors.
Last summer during the 12-day war with Israel, Khamenei named three potential successors should he be killed. Reports earlier this month indicated that Khamenei had named four layers of succession for key government and military jobs, in an effort to ensure regime survival in the face of a US-Israeli attack.
Iran confirms deaths of Guards chief and senior security official
Iran’s judiciary has confirmed the deaths of two senior military figures. The Guards’ commander, General Mohammad Pakpour, and Ali Shamkhani, the head of the national defence council, were killed in Saturday’s attacks, according to the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan online news portal.
At least 133 civilians have been killed, and 200 civilians injured during the US-Israel war on Iran, according to the US-based organisation HRANA (Human Rights Activists News Agency).
At least 59 incidents have been recorded across 18 provinces in Iran, according to HRANA, which described “a large-scale, multi-wave operation”. Tehran recorded the highest number of incident, it said.
Schools and spaces associated with children and students were among the sites damaged, it said, adding that damage has also been reported “in urban areas and other civilian locations, including residential neighborhoods and workplaces”.
Earlier, Iran’s ambassador to the UN accused Donald Trump of lying about the justification of military strikes to “manufacture consent for unlawful war”.
Amir-Saeid Iravani told the emergency UN Security Council meeting that Iran has the right to self-defense, and that hundreds of civilians have been killed and injured in the US-Israeli operation, calling the strikes a war crime.
Israel and US have attacked Iran. They have violated international law and the charter of the United Nations. They must be held accountable.
The council of the Iranian president, head of the judiciary and one of the jurists of the Guardian council, a 12-member body that vets laws, will temporarily assume leadership duties in Iran, the Islamic Republic News Agency has reported.
There has been only one other transfer of power since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution – back in 1989, when Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini died.
The supreme leader is appointed by an 88-member clerical panel, called the Assembly of Experts. Under Iranian law, the Assembly of Experts must pick a successor “as soon as possible”. In the meantime, a leadership council can “temporarily assume all the duties of leadership.”
Hundreds of thousands of travellers have been stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace following the US-Israel war on Iran.
There also was no flight activity over the United Arab Emirates, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said, after the government there announced a “temporary and partial closure” of its airspace.
That led to the closure of key hub airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, and the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights by major Middle Eastern airlines. The three major airlines that operate at those airports – Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad – typically have about 90,000 passengers per day passing through those hubs and even more travellers headed to destinations in the Middle East, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
China’s ministry of foreign affairs has expressed concern over the US-Israeli strikes against Iran and called for an immediate ceasefire, urging all sides to avoid escalation and to resume dialogue and negotiation.
In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said Iran’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity should be respected.
Iran Guards vow 'most ferocious offensive operation in history' against US bases, Israel
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they would launch the “most ferocious” operation in history against Israeli and US bases.
“The most ferocious offensive operation in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces will begin any moment now,” the Guards said in a post on Telegram.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war on Iran. Here is where things stand:
-
Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been killed, state media has confirmed, after the US and Israel launched a war on the country to trigger regime change. The US president had earlier announced the death of the ayatollah, who ruled Iran since 1989, in a post on Truth Social. “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead,” Trump wrote. His death was later confirmed by Iranian state media.
-
It came after waves of air attacks across the country. Iran’s Red Crescent reported more than 200 deaths and 747 injuries in daylong attacks across 24 provinces.
-
Witnesses in Tehran told the Guardian that people were celebrating in the streets after news of the possible death of the supreme leader.
-
At least 100 people were reportedly killed in a strike that hit a primary school in Minab, in the south-east.
-
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had earlier said there were “many signs” Khamenei was “no longer alive”, and Israeli officials briefed media that his body had been recovered.
-
Tehran fired retaliatory strikes against Israeli and US bases across the Middle East. Iran’s attacks targeted more than six countries, pulling in places that had been previously untouched by the escalating crisis.
-
In Israel, one person died and 22 others are injured, media reports said, after an Iranian missile strike hit a building in Tel Aviv. An official said the building was aflame and had partially collapsed.
-
In Dubai, a number of people were injured after an incident occurred at Dubai international airport, the Dubai media office has said. The Burj Al Arab and Fairmont hotels caught fire amid Iranian attacks.
-
The United Arab Emirates said in a statement that it had intercepted the vast majority of the 137 missiles and 209 drones fired at its territory by Iran in the hours after the US and Israel launched a regime change war on the Islamic Republic.
-
At least one person was killed and seven wounded during an “incident” at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed international airport, officials said after Iranian strikes targeting the United Arab Emirates and Gulf states.
-
World leaders urged all sides to de-escalate and return to the negotiating table. The UK, France and Germany issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s retaliatory strikes on neighbouring countries, but the statement stopped short of complete support for the US-Israeli attacks.
-
The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, said British planes were “in the sky today” in the Middle East “as part of coordinated regional defensive operations to protect our people, our interests and our allies”.
-
The UN security council held an emergency meeting on Saturday. The session was requested by the permanent missions of France, Bahrain, China, Russia and Colombia, according to a statement by the permanent mission of Russia to the UN. The secretary general António Guterres said he “deeply regrets” that the opportunity for diplomacy had been “squandered”.
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In the US, Republicans largely welcomed the attack, but prominent Democrats condemned what they called an illegal aggression.
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