Iran launches fresh strikes across Gulf after vowing revenge for slain leader

Israeli emergency service officers search through the debris at the scene of a missile attack near Bet Shemesh, some 30 kilometres west of Jerusalem on 1 March 2026. A barrage of missiles launched from Iran killed at least six people in the central Israel city of Bet Shemesh, the day after the US and Israel attacked Iran and assassinated its supreme leader. Picture: AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP Iran launched strikes across the Gulf on Sunday after vowing to avenge slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, defying a threat from President Donald Trump to strike with unprecedented force.

As crowds gathered in Tehran, with some grieving and others celebrating, explosions rang out and the Israeli military announced it was again striking targets in the heart of the capital. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced a fresh “large-scale” attack on Sunday, and blasts were heard in Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Manama, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with Israeli rescue services reporting four people killed in the latest missile attack. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian declared Khamenei’s killing a “declaration of war against Muslims” and warned: “Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime.” Israel described Khamenei’s death as a “first step”, and military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani boasted that the joint operation “eliminated 40 senior commanders, including Khamenei, in one minute in two different locations over a thousand miles from Israel in broad daylight”.

International reactions to conflict have been mixed, with Pope Leo XIV urging both sides to end “the spiral of violence”, while China condemned Khamenei’s killing as a “serious violation of Iran’s sovereignty”. France, on the other hand, expressed satisfaction at the death of “a bloodthirsty dictator who oppressed his people, degraded women, young people and minorities”. Blasts were heard in northern Tehran and smoke was seen emanating from a building, an AFP journalist reported. It was not immediately clear what the target was.