Tehran, 1 March 2026 (dpa/MIA) - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, Iranian state media confirmed on Sunday, as conflict in the region escalated after the death that Tehran had in the past called a red line.

Rockets were fired throughout the Middle East and Iran vowed to retaliate even as US President Donald Trump threatened further escalation.

Iran targeted 27 US bases in the region, Israel's army headquarters and an arms complex in Tel Aviv, according to Iranian news agency Tasnim, a mouthpiece for Iran's elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

A drone attack on the international airport in Bahrain caused property damage, according to a statement by the Interior Ministry there on X. Bahrain is the headquarters of the US Navy in the Middle East.

Earlier, Abu Dhabi Airport and the international hub in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates had already reported strikes.

There were also reports of explosions in Qatar's capital, Doha, on Sunday morning.

Two drones struck a port in Oman, leaving one worker injured, the state news agency ONA reported.

Trump warns Tehran not to respond

Khamenei was killed as a "martyr," the IRNA and Fars news agencies reported. In response, the Iranian leadership declared 40 days of national mourning, according to Iranian state television.

The religious leader had a key role in shaping Iran's domestic and foreign policy over decades, developing the Islamic Republic into a powerful regional player.

Trump had declared Khamenei dead after the United States and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran on Saturday, and his death was later confirmed by Iran.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council said in a statement the "martyrdom of Imam Ali Khamenei will mark the beginning of a great uprising against the tyrants of the world."

Trump warned Iran against retaliating for the death of Khamenei.

They had better not do that, he wrote in a post in capital letters on Truth Social. If this happens, Washington will strike back "with a force never seen before," he said.

When asked if there was anyone in Iran he would like to see at the helm of the country, US President Trump told US television station CBS News, "Yes, I think so. There are some good candidates ... I know exactly who, but I can't tell you."

Trump announced that the bombing of Iran would continue until peace returned to the region and the whole world. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the US attacks on Iran as "the most lethal, most complex, and most-precision aerial operation in history."

Israel attacking Iran

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was striking "targets that belong to the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran."

"Over the past day, the Israeli Air force conducted large-scale strikes in order to establish aerial superiority and to pave the path to Tehran," the military said.

The IDF "brought to an end a decades-long chapter with the elimination of the leader of the Iranian terror axis," it noted.

Deadly attacks

Since the start of the military hostilities between Israel, the United States and Iran, scores of people have died.

The Red Crescent said more than 200 people were killed in the US and Israeli attacks on Saturday. Tasnim said 750 people were injured.

The figures could not currently be independently verified.

Meanwhile reports that Khamenei had died sparked spontaneous celebrations in Tehran. People in the Iranian capital were reported to have shouted with joy from their windows and honked car horns as news circulated via Iranian media in exile that can be received in the country by satellite.

Photo: epa