SECOND DAY OF LOUD BLASTS HEARD
Khamenei, who quashed the ambitions of several moderate elected presidents, had a following among fellow Shiites outside Iran in countries such as Iraq, where Tehran-backed armed groups threatened to retaliate after the US-Israel strikes.
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani expressed condolences over the killing of Khamenei, and urged Iranians to maintain unity in the face of attacks.
Pakistani police on Sunday clashed with protesters who breached the outer wall of the US consulate in Karachi, leaving nine people dead, following news of US and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Khamenei.
Global air travel remained heavily disrupted as continued air strikes kept major Middle Eastern airports, including Dubai – the world’s busiest international hub – closed in one of the biggest aviation interruptions in recent years.
Several loud blasts were heard for a second day on Sunday in regional business hub Dubai and over Qatar’s capital of Doha, witnesses said, after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on the neighbouring Gulf states.
Puffs of white smoke from missile interceptions were glimpsed in the skies over Dubai, while billows of dark smoke rose over its port of Jebel Ali, one of the busiest in the Middle East.
Two people were injured after shrapnel fell from drones following an interception by air defences over two houses in Dubai, one of several Gulf Arab cities that pride themselves on stability.
Iran, which had said it would target US bases if attacked, hit a range of other targets, keeping the major oil-producing Gulf on edge.
Trump said the air strikes aimed to end a decades-long threat from Iran and ensure it could not develop a nuclear weapon. He also sought to justify a risky gambit that seemed to contradict his professed opposition to American involvement in complex overseas conflicts.
“This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump and Netanyahu told Iranians to pursue a rare chance to topple their clerical leaders.
