Khamenei killing: Iran announces 40 days of mourning, 7 public holidays

Iran has declared a 40-day national mourning period and announced seven public holidays following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had been in power since 1989.

Despite the announcement, bombardment continued, with explosions heard in the capital, Reuters reported.

Iranian state media reported that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the early hours of Saturday during Israeli and US strikes on his office.

State media said Khamenei "was carrying out his assigned duties and was present at his workplace (his office)" at the time of what it described as "This cowardly attack occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning".

Iran described the strikes as unprovoked and illegal. In response, it fired missiles at Israel and at least seven other countries, including Gulf states that host US military bases.

US President Donald Trump, taking what has been described as the biggest foreign-policy gamble of his presidency after campaigning for reelection as a "peace president," said the strikes were aimed at ending what he called a decades-long threat from Iran and preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said intelligence and tracking systems had monitored Khamenei's whereabouts, adding that "there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do."

Trump also renewed his call for Iranians to topple their government, warning that "the heavy and pinpoint bombing… will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Khamenei's compound had been destroyed.

Sources familiar with the matter told Khaleej Times that Iranian Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour were among those killed in the attacks.

Israel's military said it had confirmed the killings of five other senior military commanders, including Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to the supreme leader.

Iranian media reported that Khamenei's daughter, grandchild, son-in-law and daughter-in-law were also killed.