Overview
- State media in Iran confirmed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death after joint U.S.-Israeli attacks, with Operation EPIC FURY continuing against military and leadership targets.
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched missiles and drones at Israel and U.S. bases in Gulf states, with reported deaths in Israel and the UAE and the U.S. military reporting its first fatalities of the campaign.
- Iran invoked Article 111, installing a council including President Masoud Pezeshkian and judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei to exercise the supreme leader’s duties until the Assembly of Experts names a successor.
- Reports from Iranian outlets cited heavy civilian casualties, including a strike on a girls’ school in Minab that independent media have not verified, and state media reported the deaths of senior figures Mohammad Pakpour and Ali Shamkhani.
- Airspace closures and a threatened shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted flights and shipping as the U.N. Security Council convened an emergency session and global leaders warned of rapid escalation.