World leaders urged peace and a return to talks as the military strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran raised concerns about whether the violence could spread across the region and tensions rose with Iran vowing devastating blows after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A massive explosion rocked the Iranian capital on Sunday morning as the Israeli military said it was targeting the “heart” of the city after stating it cleared the path to Tehran the day before. Meanwhile, Iran pressed on with its retaliation campaign: Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain said they intercepted a barrage of missiles.
Oman, which served as an interlocutor between Tehran and Washington in recent nuclear talks, said an oil tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz came under attack and its port at Duqm, used by the U.S. Navy as a logistical hub and capable of hosting aircraft carriers, was targeted in a drone attack.
The demise of Khamenei, who had no designated successor, will likely throw Iran’s future into uncertainty and exacerbate already growing concerns of a broader conflict.
Top diplomats from the 27 European Union nations are holding an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the situation around Iran and the next steps for the bloc. The United Nations Security Council met late Saturday.
Perhaps cautious about upsetting already strained relations with Trump, many nations, including several in the Middle East, refrained from commenting directly or pointedly on the joint strikes but condemned Tehran’s retaliation.
Other countries were more explicit: Australia and Canada expressed open support for the U.S. strikes, while Russia and China responded with direct criticism.
The United States and Israel launched a major attack against Iran on Saturday, and Trump called on the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising against the Islamic theocracy that has ruled the nation since 1979.
De-escalation calls
Further calls for de-escalation came from across the Middle East and Europe.
“Return to your senses … and deal with your neighbors with reason and responsibility before the circle of isolation and escalation widens,” Anwar Gargash, an adviser to the United Arab Emirates’ president, told the Iranian theocracy on Sunday.
In recent years, the UAE sought to de-escalate tensions with Iran despite its longtime suspicions of its northern neighbor.
The 22-nation Arab League called the Iranian attacks “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of countries that advocate for peace and strive for stability.” That coalition of nations has historically condemned both Israel and Iran for actions it says risk destabilizing the region.
“The Iranian regime’s indiscriminate attacks against its neighbours carry the risk of dragging the region into a broader war and we condemn this,” said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas as she announced the bloc’s meeting on Sunday. “It is essential that the war does not spread any further. The Iranian regime has choices to make.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on the U.S. and Iran to resume talks in a statement on Saturday, saying they favored a negotiated settlement. The three countries have led efforts to reach a negotiated solution over Iran’s nuclear program.
“We condemn Iranian attacks on countries in the region in the strongest terms. Iran must refrain from indiscriminate military strikes,” they said. “Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future,” they said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian over the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to a statement on the Kremlin’s website.
Khamenei will be remembered in Russia as an “outstanding statesman who made a huge personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-Iranian relations,” Putin said, as he described Khamenei’s death as a “cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.”
The Kremlin has deepened its relationship with Iran since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Tehran has been accused by Kyiv of supplying Russia with drones that are being used in Ukraine.
Ali Khamenei led Iran as supreme leader since 1989. Here are five key facts about his rise to power, his time as president, and his influence over Iran’s military and foreign policy.
Protests and celebrations
At least six people were killed in clashes with police Sunday after hundreds of protesters stormed the U.S. Consulate in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, authorities said.
In Indian-controlled Kashmir, tens of thousands of people on Sunday staged massive demonstrations to denounce Khamenei’s killing by the U.S. and Israel.
Demonstrations were also held from New York to Berlin and beyond by members of the Iranian diaspora and their supporters, celebrating the end of Khamenei’s rule.
Iranians in Berlin were seen cheering and dancing to loud music on Saturday afternoon in celebration. Some of the demonstrators waved flags of the Iranian monarchy, with German, Israeli, and U.S. flags also on display. Hopeful Iranians also took to the streets in multiple U.S. cities.
U.S. Central Command released video of fighter jets launching to strike Iran as well as footage of targets being hit.
Concerns expressed of ‘new, extensive’ war
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank said they were largely unfazed as war erupted Saturday, barely pausing as booms echoed across the sky from Israel’s Iron Dome intercepting missiles overhead.
Unlike Israel, Palestinian cities have no warning sirens or bomb shelters, despite the risk of falling debris or errant missiles. As people sheltered less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) away in Jerusalem, streets in Ramallah swarmed with shoppers browsing meat counters, vegetable stalls and Ramadan sweets, some stopping to record the sounds of distant sirens and missile interceptions.
But as Israel closed checkpoints to the movement of people and goods on Saturday, gas stations saw longer-than-usual lines as residents filled spare canisters in case of supply disruptions.
The Palestinian Authority, in a statement, condemned the Iranian attacks on Arab nations, many which have historically helped underwrite its finances. It made no mention of the Israeli or U.S. strikes.
Nervousness is perceptible across multiple countries. Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that he was concerned the failure of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran meant a “new, extensive war in the Middle East.”
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons condemned the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in harsher words. “These attacks are totally irresponsible and risk provoking further escalation as well as increasing the danger of nuclear proliferation and the use of nuclear weapons,” said its executive director, Melissa Parke.
EU leaders issued a joint statement Saturday calling for restraint and engaging in regional diplomacy in hopes of “ensuring nuclear safety.” The Arab League, too, appealed to all international parties “to work towards de-escalation as soon as possible, to spare the region the scourge of instability and violence, and to return to dialogue.”
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Ciobanu reported from Warsaw and Metz from Ramallah. Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Angela Charlton in Paris, Paolo Santalucia in Rome, Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Elise Morton and Krutika Pathi in London, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Fatma Khaled and Sam Magdy in Cairo, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing, Adam Schreck in Bangkok and Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Australia, contributed to this report.
Great Job Claudia Ciobanu, Sam Mcneil and Sam Metz | The Associated Press and NBC News & the Team @ NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth for sharing this story.
