US-Israel attacks on Iran, day 2: Khamenei is killed, Iran retaliates

EXPLAINERUS-Israel attacks on Iran: List of key events day 2Iran carries out retaliatory attacks as supreme leader is killed in US-Israeli attacks pushing the region to the edge.Published On 1 Mar 2026Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in the attacks by the United States and Israel, alongside his top security officials, as Tehran pledges to take “revenge” for the killing of the supreme leader.Khamenei’s killing is a serious setback for Iran, where more than 200 people have been killed in the attacks across 24 out of 31 provinces since Saturday. Iran’s retaliatory attacks have targeted Israel and neighbouring Gulf countries hosting US military assets.Khamenei, 86, was killed in the strike at his office in Tehran. The supreme leader’s daughter, son-in-law, and grandson were also killed in the attack.People mourn the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on March 1, 2026 [Atta Kenare/AFP]Here is everything that happened so far on Day 2Inside Iran The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had begun striking targets deep inside Tehran, a day after a joint US-Israeli attack killed Khamenei. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the sixth wave of “extensive missile and drone” attacks targeting Israeli military assets and 27 US bases in the Middle East in retaliation. Iran’s state media confirmed the killing of Khamenei, as well as security adviser Ali Shamkhani and IRGC Commander-in-Chief Mohammad Pakpour. According to the Hamshahri newspaper, Ahmad Vahidi has been named the IRGC’s new commander-in-chief. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the news. Iranian armed forces’ chief of staff, Abdul Rahim Mousavi, and Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh were also killed in the attacks. A three-person council – consisting of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, head of the judiciary, and one of the jurists of the Guardian Council – will temporarily assume all leadership duties in the country, Iran’s state TV reported. Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, said plans are in place to form a temporary governing body to carry out Khamenei’s duties. The death toll in the attack on an elementary girls’ school in southern Iran’s Minab city climbed to 148 people, and 95 others were injured. Khamenei’s supporters have taken to the streets in the main Iranian cities, including Tehran and Isfahan, to mourn the killing of the supreme leader. Iran’s highest-ranking official to appear on camera since Khamenei’s killing, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the parliament speaker, called the US and Israeli leaders “filthy criminals” who will face “devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg”. A TV monitor displays an illustration reading ‘Trump at War’ alongside a photo of the US president at the White House in Washington, DC, on February 28, 2026 [Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP]Latest from Trump