Iran has postponed the public farewell ceremony for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on 28 February 2026 in a joint military operation conducted by the United States and Israel. Iranian state media reported that the main reason for the postponement was the volume of requests from residents across different provinces who wanted additional time to travel to Tehran to attend the procession. The new date for the ceremony has not been officially announced.
Seyed Mohsen Mahmoudi, the head of the Islamic Propagation Coordination Council of Tehran, had initially announced that a farewell ceremony would begin at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall on the evening of 4 March 2026 and continue for three days. Iranian authorities later stated the ceremony had been postponed, with officials citing logistical requirements tied to the anticipated scale of public attendance. Authorities did not publicly link the postponement to the ongoing security situation or the continued conduct of air strikes across Tehran and other Iranian cities.
Khamenei, who served as Iran’s Supreme Leader from 1989 until his death at the age of 86, was killed in a strike on his compound in central Tehran on the morning of 28 February 2026. The strike, which took place at approximately 9:40 am local time, targeted a location housing the offices and residence of the supreme leader, the office of the president, and the country’s National Security Council. According to United States media reports, the Central Intelligence Agency provided location intelligence to Israel that advanced the timing of the strikes. Israeli jets reportedly dropped 30 bombs on Khamenei’s compound.
Iranian state television confirmed Khamenei’s death on 1 March 2026 after initial denials by government officials. The Supreme National Security Council of Iran formally acknowledged the killing. Iran declared a 40-day public mourning period and a seven-day national holiday. Alongside Khamenei, approximately 40 senior members of the Islamic Republic’s leadership structure were killed in the initial strikes and subsequent follow-up operations, including Mohammad Pakpour, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Aziz Nasirzadeh, Defence Minister; Ali Shamkhani, Head of the National Defence Council; Abdolrahim Mousavi, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces; and Seyyed Majid Mousavi, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force. Members of Khamenei’s family were also killed, including his daughter, son-in-law, grandchild, daughter-in-law, and wife Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, who died on 2 March 2026 from injuries sustained in the strikes.
The joint military operation, designated Operation Epic Fury by the United States and Israel, has continued in the days following the initial strikes. Israeli forces have conducted what the Israeli military described as broad-scale strikes targeting Iranian regime facilities in Tehran, including an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command center. The United States military has struck or sunk more than 20 Iranian naval vessels according to United States Central Command. Iran has responded by launching drone and missile strikes against targets in Israel, Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates, and United States military positions in the region.
The United Arab Emirates stated that the vast majority of 137 missiles and 209 drones fired at its territory by Iran were destroyed or intercepted. United States embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were closed following Iranian strikes. United States service members have been killed in the conflict, including casualties among personnel stationed in Kuwait. United States President Donald Trump stated that the military operation would continue until all objectives were achieved, and that it could last four weeks or less.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Iran had been open to diplomacy and described the Iranian military actions as acts of self-defense in response to United States aggression. Araghchi said Iran was not attacking Gulf neighbors but was targeting United States military assets. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani stated that Iran was prepared for prolonged conflict.
Thousands of mourners gathered in Enghelab Square in central Tehran on 1 March 2026. Crowds dressed in black chanted slogans and held photographs of Khamenei. Iranian state media indicated that millions are expected to attend the eventual funeral procession, drawing comparisons to the funeral of Khamenei’s predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which drew an estimated 10 million people in 1989.
How did Operation Epic Fury target Iran’s supreme leader and senior military leadership in February 2026?
The strikes that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on 28 February 2026 were the culmination of a sustained intelligence operation involving both the United States Central Intelligence Agency and Israeli military and intelligence services. According to reporting by The New York Times citing anonymous sources, the CIA had gathered intelligence about a gathering at the supreme leader’s compound. That intelligence was shared with Israeli counterparts and moved the timing of the strikes earlier than initially planned. Israeli jets had originally been intended to strike at night, following the method used during Israel’s earlier Twelve-Day War with Iran in June 2025, but the CIA’s information about the meeting prompted a daylight operation.
The operation targeted not just Khamenei’s compound but multiple additional sites across Tehran simultaneously, to ensure the success of the principal strike. The strikes on 28 February 2026 were not the first time Israel had sought to eliminate Khamenei. During the June 2025 Twelve-Day War, Israel had presented a plan to assassinate Khamenei to United States officials, but President Donald Trump rejected it at the time, citing fears of wider regional escalation. The deterioration of diplomatic channels in subsequent months, combined with Iran’s continued missile and drone operations and its proximity to nuclear weapons capability, ultimately led to a change in policy.
What constitutional process governs the selection of a new Iranian supreme leader following Khamenei’s death?
Under Article 111 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution, the death or incapacitation of the Supreme Leader triggers the formation of a three-member interim leadership council to govern the country until a new supreme leader is formally elected. Following Khamenei’s death, the council was announced on 1 March 2026 and comprises President Masoud Pezeshkian, Supreme Court Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, a senior cleric who is deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts and a member of the Guardian Council. Ali Larijani, who serves as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, has been delegated authority over defense matters.
The selection of a new supreme leader is constitutionally the sole prerogative of the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body of senior Shia clerics and jurists elected by the Iranian public every eight years. Candidates for membership in the Assembly must first be vetted by the Guardian Council, a 12-member constitutional watchdog whose members are partly appointed by the supreme leader. The constitutional requirement for the new supreme leader mandates that the candidate be a senior Islamic jurist with deep knowledge of Shia jurisprudence, as well as demonstrated qualities of political judgment, courage, and administrative capability. A simple majority of the Assembly of Experts is sufficient to appoint the new leader.
This marks only the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that the succession process has been activated. The first occasion was in 1989, when Khamenei was himself appointed within less than a day following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. At that time, the transition was uncontested and there was no need to form an interim council. The current succession is taking place under materially different circumstances, with ongoing United States and Israeli strikes making physical convening of the Assembly of Experts difficult.
Who are the leading candidates to succeed Ali Khamenei as Iran’s next supreme leader amid ongoing war?
Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old second son of the late supreme leader, has emerged as the front-runner according to multiple reports citing Iranian officials and opposition media. Mojtaba is a mid-ranking cleric who teaches at seminaries in the city of Qom and is known for his close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij paramilitary force. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly exerted significant pressure on members of the Assembly of Experts to support his appointment rapidly. Iran International, a London-based Persian-language opposition outlet, reported that Mojtaba was selected by the Assembly under pressure from the Guard Corps. The report has not been officially confirmed by Iranian state institutions.
Mojtaba’s candidacy is constitutionally and politically contentious. He does not hold the title of Ayatollah, a traditional religious qualification for the position that was also waived when his father was elevated in 1989. A father-to-son transfer of power is particularly sensitive in the context of the Islamic Republic, which came to power in 1979 by overthrowing the hereditary monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Middle East Institute had previously observed that such a succession would risk conflict within Iran’s clerical and political establishment. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz publicly threatened on 3 March 2026 to assassinate any leader selected to succeed Khamenei, regardless of identity or location.
Other candidates discussed within the Assembly of Experts include Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, a 67-year-old cleric who serves on both the Assembly and the Guardian Council, heads Iran’s seminary network, and was appointed by Khamenei to multiple senior positions; Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, the current judiciary chief who also serves on the interim council; and Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the Islamic Republic’s founder, who is associated with reformist currents but has previously been barred from running for the Assembly. Several of the most prominent historical candidates, including senior commanders and political figures, were killed in the opening strikes of Operation Epic Fury.
President Trump stated publicly on 4 March 2026 that the strikes had been so successful that most of the figures considered as leadership candidates were dead, adding that whoever emerged as successor would not be among those originally anticipated. Trump also called on the Iranian people to take the opportunity to overthrow the Islamic Republic’s government, and urged Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders to surrender or face certain death.
How has the conflict affected oil markets, aviation, and regional security since the February 2026 strikes on Iran?
Global oil markets responded sharply to the killing of Khamenei and the opening of Operation Epic Fury. Brent crude oil prices briefly reached 82.37 United States dollars per barrel immediately following the strikes, the highest level since January 2025, before pulling back. By 4 March 2026, Brent crude was trading at approximately 82.76 dollars per barrel, representing a rise of roughly 36 percent since the start of 2026 according to data from LSEG. West Texas Intermediate crude also rose significantly. Analysts at Citigroup projected Brent prices could trade between 80 and 90 dollars per barrel if the conflict persisted.
The conflict has also disrupted commercial aviation across the Middle East. Much of the region’s airspace has been closed intermittently since the initial strikes on 28 February 2026, forcing airlines to reroute flights through longer and more fuel-intensive paths even when their routes do not pass directly through the conflict zone. Airlines operating trans-regional routes have been significantly affected.
Within the United States Congress, a Senate vote on a war powers resolution that would have required President Trump to seek Congressional authorization to continue the operation in Iran failed, signaling broad Republican support for the president’s conduct of the campaign. A similar measure was being considered in the House of Representatives. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior military officials acknowledged in public statements that the post-conflict trajectory in Iran remained deeply uncertain.
Key takeaways: what the Khamenei assassination and Iran leadership crisis means for the Middle East and global security
- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader for nearly 37 years, was killed on 28 February 2026 in a joint United States-Israeli operation designated Operation Epic Fury, with Central Intelligence Agency intelligence support confirming his location. Approximately 40 senior Iranian military and government officials were also killed in the initial strikes and follow-up operations.
- Iran’s farewell ceremony for Khamenei has been postponed from its originally scheduled date of 4 March 2026, with Iranian officials citing the need to accommodate large numbers of attendees from across the country. The new date has not been announced. A 40-day national mourning period and seven-day holiday are in effect.
- Under Article 111 of Iran’s constitution, a three-member interim leadership council comprising President Masoud Pezeshkian, Supreme Court Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi is governing Iran while the 88-member Assembly of Experts selects a new supreme leader. Mojtaba Khamenei, the late leader’s son, has been reported as the Assembly’s likely or confirmed selection, though the appointment has not been officially announced by Iranian institutions.
- Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz publicly threatened to assassinate any leader chosen to succeed Khamenei, and Israeli forces struck the Assembly of Experts building in the city of Qom on 4 March 2026 during reported deliberations on the succession. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has reportedly exerted pressure on the Assembly to rapidly finalize a successor, including through procedures outside normal constitutional requirements.
- Global oil prices have risen approximately 36 percent in 2026 through 4 March, with Brent crude trading near 82 dollars per barrel. Iran has launched retaliatory drone and missile strikes against Israel, Gulf states, and United States military targets. The United States Senate declined to pass a war powers resolution that would have limited President Trump’s authority to continue the military campaign.
Discover more from Business-News-Today.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
