Live. IDF says it has begun striking targets in 'heart of Tehran' day after ayatollah's death

A top Emirati official said on Sunday that Iran's attacks across the Gulf had isolated the country, warning Tehran not to target its neighbours, as its retaliatory campaign in the region entered its second day.

"The Iranian aggression against the Gulf states was a miscalculation and it isolated Iran at a critical juncture. Your war is not with your neighbours," said presidential adviser Anwar Gargash.

"Return to reason, to your surroundings, and deal with your neighbours rationally and responsibly before the circle of isolation and escalation widens."

A nearly total internet blackout continued in Iran on Sunday morning, the second day of a conflict between Tehran and the US and Israel, a monitoring group said.

NetBlocks said connectivity has flatlined at 1% of its ordinarily levels.

Internet communication and international phone calls in Iran have frequently been disrupted since nationwide anti-government protests started in December last year. 

At least eight people were killed during pro-Iran protests at the United States consulate in the Pakistan megacity of Karachi on Sunday, a rescue service spokesman told the AFP news agency.

"We have moved at least eight dead bodies to Karachi's civil hospitals, while 20 others were injured in the consulate incident," said Muhammad Amin, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation rescue service, adding most had bullet wounds.

Hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters had tried to storm the consulate following the US-Israel strikes on Iran.

Drones targeted a port in Oman, injuring one worker, official media said on Sunday, marking the first such attack on the sultanate since Tehran began its retaliation campaign in the Gulf.

"A security source reported that the commercial port of Duqm was targeted by two drones. One drone struck a mobile workers' accommodation, injuring one foreign worker, while debris from the other landed near fuel tanks, causing no casualties or material damage," the Oman News Agency said in a post on X.

After the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran early on Saturday, Tehran’s retaliatory air campaign saw it target American military assets in all countries in the Gulf with the exception of Oman.

Oman has mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran and on Saturday expressed dismay at the US military campaign.

Tens of thousands of people in Indian-controlled Kashmir staged massive demonstrations on Sundy to denounce Khamenei’s killing by the US and Israel.

Since early Sunday, mostly Shiite Muslims took to the streets in the region as they chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

Some wailed in mourning while carrying Khamenei’s portrait.

The Iranian leader enjoyed a significant following in Kashmir among Shiite Muslims and his portrait adorned several streets prominently across the region.

Kashmiris have long supported Palestinian and other Muslim causes and have often staged large solidarity protests.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a prominent Kashmiri religious leader, voiced deep sorrow and outrage over what he termed the “brutal killing” of the Iranian leader.

In a statement, he said the killing “has shaken the Muslim world” and called for a protest strike in Kashmir on Monday against the killing.

Dubai authorities said two people were injured when debris from Iranian drones shot down by air defences landed in the courtyards of two homes in the city.

The Dubai Media Office also said the booms heard in the emirate were “the result of successful interception operations” by air defences.

After explosions in Dubai, smoke could be seen rising in the area of Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, and the city-state’s Jebel Ali port.

Some airports across the Middle East remained closed on Sunday as the conflict between Israel, the US and Iran moved into its second day.

Emirates Airlines has suspended all flights to and from Dubai until at least Sunday afternoon.

The Qatar airport is closed until at least Monday morning, according to Qatar Airways.

Israeli airspace also remains closed.

The closures have stranded tens of thousands of travelers around the world.

The Israeli military said it has identified another round of missiles headed toward Israel from Iran.

There were repeated barrages of missile fire across Israel, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, early on Sunday.

According to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services, one person has been killed and 121 were injured in the first 24 hours of the conflict.

Iranian state media confirmed on Saturday night that the Ayatollah had been killed in US-Israeli strikes early on Saturday, confirming an announcement by US President Donald Trump.

It brought an end to hours of speculation about the supreme leader's whereabouts after his silence throughout the tit-for-tat exchange of air strikes throughout Saturday.

You can read more about how Khamenei's death was announced and what comes next for Iran in this article by Aleksandar Brezar.

Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed, Tehran confirms

Iran’s Khamenei was killed in joint US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on Saturday morning, state-run media confirmed, after US President Donald Trump said “one of t…

Iraq announced on Sunday a three-day mourning period after the death of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said in a statement that "with deep sorrow, we extend our condolences to the noble people of Iran and the entire Muslim world" after Khamenei was killed in "a blatant act of aggression."

He said the government had announced three days of mourning, while urging an immediate cessation of military operations that "are driving the region to unprecedented levels of violence."

Iran wields a significant influence in Iraqi politics and also backs armed groups, whose power has grown both politically and financially.

Iraq has for decades been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran.

The Coordination Framework, a ruling coalition of Shiite groups with varying degrees of links to Iran, said "with deep sorrow and profound grief, we mourn the passing of the martyred leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei."

His "blood will remain a guiding light for all generations" and "the curse will continue to haunt the murderous Zionists for all time", the coalition added.

Influential cleric Moqtada Sadr meanwhile said in a statement "we extend our condolences to the Islamic world."

The US Embassy in Bahrain said on Sunday that family members and non-essential personnel were authorised to leave Bahrain.

The US has large military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

Bahrain said a missile attack targeted the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom and three buildings were damaged in the capital, Manama.

About 500 Shiite Muslims stormed the US Consulate in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi on Sunday, smashing windows hours after a major US and Israeli attack killed Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, police said.

Police and paramilitary forces used batons and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, said Mohammad Jawad, a police official.

At least one protesters was killed and several others were wounded in clashes between protesters and security forces, he said.

The United Nations' nuclear agency will hold an extraordinary meeting on Iran on Monday in the wake of the US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic, aimed in part at Tehran's atomic programme.

In a statement late on Saturday, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the meeting was at the request of Russia, a key ally of Tehran.

Iran had made the same request in a letter to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Saturday following the strikes, which led to the death of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

As a result, the agency will hold a "special session of the IAEA Board of Governors on matters related to military strikes of the United States and Israel against the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran", the IAEA said in a statement.

That extraordinary meeting will precede an already scheduled session of the board, which represents 35 countries.

Following the strikes, the IAEA said it was "closely monitoring developments in the Middle East, and urges restraint to avoid any nuclear safety risks to people in the region."

Western countries led by the United States and Israel, Iran's arch-enemy, accuse the Islamic republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies having such military ambitions, but insists on its right to this technology for civilian purposes.

Iran's security chief Ali Larijani warned on Sunday against attempts to divide Iran following the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US and Israeli strikes.

"Groups seeking to divide Iran should know that we will not tolerate it," said Larijani, head of the Supreme National Security Council, in an interview broadcast on state TV, calling on Iranians to unite.

He also said the transition process to select a new supreme leader would begin later on Sunday but it is unclear how long this will take.

The commander of the US Central Command says his forces are taking part in military operations in the region during the first 24 hours of “Operation Epic Fury.”

“The President ordered bold action, and our brave Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Guardians, and Coast Guardsmen are answering the call,” a statement quoted the head of US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, as saying.

The United States has thousands of military personnel stationed at bases all across the Persian Gulf and beginning on Saturday, these installations have been the targets of Iranian missile strikes.

Qatar’s Interior Ministry said eight people were injured early Sunday in Iranian strikes on the country, bringing the total number of wounded since the attacks began the previous day to 16.

The ministry added that the assaults caused “limited” material damage.

Officials urged residents to remain at home unless absolutely necessary and to keep roads clear for ambulances and emergency services.

US President Donald Trump warned Iran against escalating its attacks in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, after Tehran issued threats following its acknowledgment of the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

You can read more about the US president's remarks and what could happen next in the article below by Marina Stoimenova.

Trump: We will hit them with a force that has never been seen before

Trump warned Iran against escalating attacks, while Iran’s parliamentary speaker vowed “devastating blows” in response to the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei…

Hundreds of Iraqis tried to breach Baghdad’s heavily guarded Green Zone, home to the US Embassy, after the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, a security source told AFP.

Footage shared on social media shows demonstrators hurling stones at security personnel, who responded with tear gas. An AFP reporter on the scene saw hundreds of people waving the flags of a pro-Iran armed faction.

The deaths of Admiral Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme Defence Council, and Major General Mohammad Pakpour, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in Saturday’s US and Israeli attack on Tehran have been officially confirmed by state television.

An intelligence and a military source told CBS News late on Saturday that around 40 senior Iranian officials were killed in the strikes.

Iran's security chief Ali Larijani said the transition process following the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will begin on Sunday.

"An interim leadership council will soon be formed. The president, the head of the judiciary and a jurist from the Guardian Council will assume responsibility until the election of the next leader," said Larijani, the head of Iran's top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, who was an adviser to Khamenei.

"This council will be established as soon as possible. We are working to form it as early as today," he said in an interview broadcast by state TV.