Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the beginning of what it said was the "most devastating offensive operation in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” after the killings of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior officials were confirmed.
It said it had launched "extensive missile and drone" attacks on Israel and 27 US bases in the region, according to Iranian state media. The strikes killed the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday as well as other top officials, including the IRGC chief.
It said 27 American bases and the Tel Nof Airbase, the Israeli army's headquarters in Tel Aviv, as well as a large defence industrial complex were attacked.
The IRGC said the offensive would target the "occupied territories and American terrorist bases” in the region. The statement came after Iranian state news agencies confirmed the killing of Khamenei and hailed him as a "martyr.”
Mr Khamenei was killed on Saturday morning in a joint US-Israeli wave of strikes targeting Tehran and other Iranian cities, state media announced. It added that his daughter, son-in-law and grandson were also killed. The government has declared 40 days of mourning.
His killing throws into question the future of the leadership of the Islamic Republic. As supreme leader, he stood above the elected president and held final say over Iran’s armed forces, including the IRGC.
The council of the Iranian president, the head of the judiciary and on the jurists of the Guard Council will temporarily assume duties of leadership in Iran, according to state-run IRNA.
Iranian state media also confirmed the deaths of his adviser, Ali Shamkhani, and of IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour.
Mr Shamkhani had also been targeted in an Israeli strike in June 2025, during the 12-day war, and while there were reports that he had been killed in the attack, he was later confirmed to have survived.
He was recently appointed the secretary of Iran's Defence Council, which was set up after the June war to oversee the country's defence and national security policy.
Comm Pakpour became IRGC chief at the start of the war last year after his predecessor, Hossein Salami, was killed in an Israeli attack.
Israel has also announced another wave of attacks on Iran in recent hours, with the military saying it has struck more than 30 targets in western and central Iran.
A number of senior Iranian figures were targeted in the US-Israeli strikes launched on Saturday. The whereabouts of President Masoud Pezeshkian remain unknown.
Iran said it responded to a US-Israeli attack on Saturday by targeting American bases in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan.
Global leaders called for a quick resolution to the crisis in the Middle East as US allies backed the decision to kill Mr Khamenei.
Israel said it was continuing its attacks on Iran on Sunday morning. “Dozens of air force fighter jets struck, guided by military intelligence, and completed just a short while ago another wave of strikes to target the ballistic missile array and air defence systems of the Iranian terror regime in western and central Iran,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Attacks will continue of military and "regime targets” in Iran, Israel added.
