Israeli strikes rock Tehran as Iran's counterattacks widen after supreme leader killed

(AP) — Israel and Iran traded strikes Sunday as part of a widening war after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a surprise United States and Israeli bombardment a day earlier.

Blasts in Tehran — whose target was not immediately clear — sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky in an area where there are government buildings. Iranian authorities say more than 200 people have been killed since the start of the US and Israeli strikes that killed Khamenei and other senior leaders.

Earlier, Iran fired missiles at an ever-widening list of targets in Israel and Gulf Arab states in retaliation.

Explosions caused by missile impacts or interceptions could be heard in Tel Aviv. Israel’s rescue services said eight people were killed and 28 wounded in a strike in the central town of Beit Shemesh, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 10.

Meanwhile, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a prerecorded message aired on state television that a new leadership council “has begun its work.” Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Al Jazeera network that a new supreme leader will be chosen in “one or two days.”

The killing of Khamenei, and US President Donald Trump's calls for the overthrow of the decades-old Islamic Republic, marked the start of a stunning new US intervention in the Middle East and potentially a prolonged war.

It is also a startling show of military might for an American president who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars.” It was the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has joined Israel in using military force against Iran.

In a 12-day war in June, Israeli and American strikes greatly weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. But the killing of Khamenei and several top security officials creates a leadership vacuum, increasing the risk of regional instability.

“You have crossed our red line and must pay the price,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a televised address Sunday. “We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg.”

Trump warned that any retaliation would only lead to further escalation.

“THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT,” Trump fired back in a social media post. “IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”

In a sign of how the attack could stoke regional unrest, hundreds of people stormed the US Consulate in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi on Sunday. Police and paramilitary forces used batons and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, and at least nine people were killed in the clashes, authorities said.

As US and Israeli strikes have pounded Iran, the Islamic Republic has retaliated with missiles and drone attacks on Israel and nearby Arab Gulf countries hosting US forces.

The air war could rattle global markets, particularly if Iran makes the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. Around 20% of the world's traded oil passes through the vital waterway, and oil prices are already set for swings.

As reports trickled out about Khamenei’s death, eyewitnesses in Tehran told The Associated Press that some residents were rejoicing, cheering from rooftops, blowing whistles and letting out ululations.

Mourners raised a black flag over the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad and the Iranian government declared 40 days of public mourning and a seven-day nationwide public holiday to commemorate Khamenei’s death.

Citing unidentified sources, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported that several relatives of Khamenei were also killed, including a daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and grandchild.

Tensions have soared in recent weeks as the Trump administration built up the largest force of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades. The president insisted he wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program while the country struggled with growing dissent following nationwide protests.

Democrats decried that Trump had taken action without congressional authorization. The White House said it had briefed several Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress in advance.

Though Trump had pronounced the Iranian nuclear program obliterated in strikes last year, the country was rebuilding infrastructure that it had lost, according to a senior US official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss Trump’s decision-making process. The official said intelligence showed that Iran had developed the capability to produce its own high-quality centrifuges, an important step in developing the highly enriched uranium needed for weapons.

Iran has said it has not enriched since June — though it has maintained its right to do so while saying its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. It has also blocked international inspectors from visiting the sites the US bombed. Satellite photos analyzed by AP have shown new activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material.

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