Israel said it launched a broad wave of strikes in central Tehran on Sunday, March 1, 2026, and was seeking to dominate the skies over the capital.
This came after Israel’s air force killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a large-scale assault that has raised fears of widening instability in the Middle East.
Over the past day, Israel’s air force has conducted strikes to open the “path to Tehran”, and the Israeli military said the majority of aerial defence systems in western and central Iran had been dismantled, though many targets remained.
“We have the capabilities and the targets to keep going on for as long as necessary,” said military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani.
Several blasts were heard for a second day in regional business hub Dubai and over Qatar’s capital of Doha, witnesses said, after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on the Gulf states.
Khamenei, who built Iran into a powerful anti-U.S. force and spread its sway across the Middle East during his 36-year rule, was working in his office at the time of Saturday’s attack, state media said.
‘It’s murder’: Putin speaks on Khamenei’s death as protests rock Pakistan, Iraq
Insiders in Iran said the ruling establishment would immediately seek to name a successor to signal stability and continuity.
In another blow for Iran’s leadership, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi was killed in the strikes, Reuters reported.
United States President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that Iranian retaliation would cause the US to hit Iran with “a force that has never been seen before”.
Global air travel remained heavily disrupted as continued air strikes kept major Middle Eastern airports closed, including Dubai, the world’s busiest international hub.
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