Top Iranian leaders, including Khameni, were killed.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who led Iran for 36 years, was killed in an attack by the United States and Israel. Several top Iranian officials were killed in the attack. Tehran has warned of revenge for the assassination. They attacked various countries in the Middle East, including Israel, on Sunday. The United States and Israel also carried out major attacks in various places in Iran yesterday.
US President Trump claimed yesterday that 48 top leaders of the country were killed in the attack on Iran. Trump also said yesterday that Iran's new leadership wanted to talk to the US administration, and he (Trump) agreed to it.
Iran did not officially mention the number of casualties in the attack in that country yesterday. And 9 people were killed and 51 injured in an Iranian missile attack in Israel yesterday.
Yesterday was the second day of the renewed conflict in the Middle East. Earlier, on the first day, the United States and Israel carried out airstrikes on Khamenei's residence and office in Tehran. Since then, news of his death has been coming out. Later, US President Donald Trump confirmed the news of his death on the social media Truth Social. The matter was also acknowledged by Tehran.
According to the news published by Iranian state media yesterday, in addition to Khamenei, his daughter, son-in-law and grandson were killed in the attack. Among the top Iranian officials killed were Khamenei's security adviser Ali Shamkhani, the head of the armed forces, General Abdul Rahim Mousavi, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and the head of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Mohammad Pakpour. Citing unconfirmed sources, some media outlets reported that former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was killed in the attack.
The death of the supreme leader in the attack is a major blow for Iran. In recent years, Israel has gradually weakened Iran-backed armed groups in the Middle East. Many top Iranian officials have also been killed in Israeli attacks during this time. Iran suffered heavy losses during its last conflict with Israel last year. Tehran's economy is also currently in turmoil.
The attack on Iran has been launched amid such a turbulent situation. Trump had said that the attack was aimed at changing the country's government. The deaths of top Iranian officials, including Khamenei, indicate that. However, Harlan Ullman, an advisor to the Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council, believes that it will not be that easy. He told Al Jazeera that Caracas reached an agreement with Washington after the US took Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to the United States earlier this year. Iran is not Venezuela; and Ali Larijani, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, is considered to be Khamenei's successor. He is a very capable person.
Supreme Leader Election Soon
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was 86 years old. He was born in 1939 in Mashhad, northeastern Iran. He joined the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. Two years later, he was elected president of the new government. He also served as the supervisor of the IRGC. After Ruhollah Khomeini's death in 1989, Khamenei became the Supreme Leader of Iran.
Now the question has arisen, who will be the next Supreme Leader of Iran? For the time being, Iran's 'Leadership Council' will take charge. Ali Reza Arafi, the religious leader of Iran's influential constitutional body, the Guardian Council, has become a new member. The other two members of this three-member council are Iranian President Masoud Pajeshkian and Chief Justice Mohseni Ajeh.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that while this Leadership Council is in charge, a new Supreme Leader of Iran will be elected in a day or two. And after the killing of IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour, relevant sources say that Ahmad Vahidi may become the head of the force. Khamenei appointed him as the deputy head of the IRGC two months ago.
Claims of attack on US warship
The backdrop for the new attack on Iran has been created by the anti-government protests in the country earlier this year. Although Tehran succeeded in suppressing the protests, the United States has since increased its military buildup in the Middle East. A US warship was deployed. Another warship was on its way to the Mediterranean. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was pressuring Trump to attack Iran.
The warship deployed in the Arabian Sea in the Middle East is called the USS Abraham Lincoln. The IRGC claimed to have launched a missile attack on it yesterday. However, a US official told Al Jazeera that the missile did not hit the warship. Although the US military said that three US soldiers were killed and five soldiers were injured during the conflict with Iran.
In addition, there were new reports of Iranian attacks targeting US bases in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait yesterday. According to information from these countries, two people have been killed in Iran's attacks in the past two days in Iraq, one each in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. In addition, five people have been injured in Iraq, 32 in Kuwait, 4 in Bahrain, 58 in the United Arab Emirates and 5 in Oman. Meanwhile, the UK Ministry of Defense said yesterday that British fighter jets destroyed an Iranian drone heading towards Qatar on Sunday. This is the first action by the UK since the attacks on Iran began.
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