The U.S.-Israeli attack that ended Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s iron-fisted rule of Iran also created a power vacuum in the Islamic Republic for the first time in decades, with a group of clerics convening to cast their votes on who would succeed him.

As Iran’s second supreme leader, he brutally crushed dissent at home and expanded Iran’s footprint abroad, challenging Saudi Arabia for dominance in the Middle East.

"Long ago, the Islamic Republic learned to distribute coercive power across institutions to enable the state to survive crises," writes Hamidreza Azizi

Strikes on energy facilities and targets across Middle East form strategy devised to sow chaos in retaliation for US and Israeli attack

A billboard of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on a street, after he was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Saturday, in Tehran, Iran, March 2, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Follow live updates and the latest news coverage as Iran begins funeral proceedings for Supreme Leader Khamenei, Trump and Israel strike Tehran, and U.S. targets across the Middle East face attacks.

As tensions between the U.S. and Iran rose over the past few weeks, traders were using Kalshi and Polymarket to bet on whether Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would remain in power. But when news broke that Khamenei was killed in joint strikes by the U.

Seed of the Sacred Fig’ director Mohammad Rasoulof calls Iran’s dead leader Ali Khamenei 'the most hated figure in the contemporary history of Iran.'