Global Reactions Erupt After Killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a joint US-Israeli military operation has provoked a wide range of reactions around the world, with governments, international organisations and civil society groups responding with alarm, condemnation and calls for restraint amid fears the conflict could escalate further. The operation, which Tehran’s state media confirmed resulted in Khamenei’s death and triggered a 40‑day official mourning period, represents one of the most dramatic escalations in the long‑standing tensions between Iran and the West. In Iran, political leaders and many citizens have expressed outrage and grief. President Masoud Pezeshkian denounced the killing as “a great crime that will never remain unanswered,” declaring national holidays alongside the mourning period. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has pledged fierce retaliation, launching missiles and drone strikes against Israeli and US targets across the Gulf and beyond. International reactions have been mixed and largely divided along geopolitical lines. Russia and China have strongly criticised the strikes. Russian President Vladimir Putin described Khamenei’s killing as a “cynical murder” that violated “all standards of human morality and international law”. “Please accept my deep condolences in connection with the assassination of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyed Ali Khamenei, and members of his family,” said a message to Pezeshkian published on the Kremlin website. Putin added that in Russia, Khamenei will be “remembered as an outstanding statesman who made a huge personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-Iranian relations and brought them to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership”. China described Khamenei’s killing as “a serious violation of Iran’s sovereignty and security, a trampling on the aims and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations”. “China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this,” its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said while calling for the “immediate halting of military operations”. Meanwhile European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described Khamenei’s death as “a defining moment in Iran’s history”. “What comes next is uncertain. But there is now an open path to a different Iran, one that its people may have greater freedom to shape,” she said on X. Elsewhere in the world, protests and demonstrations erupted, with pro‑Iranian rallies reported in Pakistan and other countries, some of which turned deadly near diplomatic missions. At least nine people have been killed near a United States consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi after protests broke out following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an official has told Al Jazeera. In Srinagar, large crowds gathered in front of United Nations Military Observers Group (UNMOGIP) headquarters. They were shouting slogans against the United States and Israel and its allies.