🇮🇷Interim leadership council formed in Iran after Khamenei’s death

Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council has selected Ayatollah Alireza Arafi as the jurist member of the temporary Leadership Council — alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei — to jointly carry out the duties of the Supreme Leader after the confirmed killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes, pending the Assembly of Experts’ appointment of a new leader.

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🚨🇮🇷 Mapping Iran’s missile reach across Middle East

Iran fields a diverse missile arsenal, ranging from short-range tactical systems to medium-range ballistic missiles capable of striking targets up to 2,000 kilometers away.

Explore Sputnik's infographic to see what missiles Iran has in its arsenal—and how far they can reach.

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🇮🇷 Ali Khamenei: Architect of modern Iran and guardian of Islamic identity

Ali Khamenei, the second supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has been killed in an Israeli bombing at the age of 86.

For more than four decades on the front lines of political life—including 36 years as the nation's highest authority—he shaped the destiny of the Iranian people and the wider region.

🔸 The making of a revolutionary

Born into a religious family in Mashhad, Khamenei devoted his youth to Islamic scholarship in Qom and Najaf. His interest in literature, music and poetry set him apart, but his life's mission became Iran's struggle for independence from foreign influence.

An active follower of Imam Khomeini, he endured imprisonment and exile under the Shah's rule.

🔸 Trial by fire

Following the 1979 revolution, his organizational skills were needed at the highest levels: from defense during the Iran-Iraq war to parliament and the presidency. His eight-year presidency coincided with the war's toughest years, when the country's territorial integrity hung in the balance.

He survived an assassination attempt in 1981, but lost the use of his right arm.

🔸 The succession

When Ayatollah Khomeini died in 1989, Iran faced a historic crossroads. Khamenei's authority and foresight ensured continuity. The Assembly of Experts elected him the new leader and constitutional amendments cemented his mandate, opening a new chapter for the Republic.

🔸 Guardian of the revolution

As supreme leader, Khamenei remained steadfast in his commitment to the revolution's ideals: independence, freedom and Islamic law. He balanced the branches of power while strengthening the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a guarantor of sovereignty in a turbulent region.

He championed a "neither east nor west" foreign policy. His principled stand against the US and rejection of unipolarity allowed Iran to steer an independent course despite unprecedented sanctions.

🔸 The reclusive statesman

Remarkably, Khamenei never left the country or gave interviews throughout his decades-long rule – a deliberate retreat from daily politics to focus on strategic vision. He saw his mission as preserving the ideological purity and institutions established by the republic's founder.

🔸 End of an era

For millions of Iranians, Khamenei will remain the face of revolutionary continuity and resistance to external pressure. Whatever the final verdict of history, he has inscribed his name into Iran's story as the man who, for nearly 40 years, charted the path of the nation while striving to preserve its identity in a changing world.

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💵 Hormuz Strait’s closure could trigger collapse of dollar system - expert

👉 The US and Israel’s unprovoked attack on Iran and Iran’s retaliatory closure of the narrow Hormuz Strait chokepoint between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea could have “cascading consequences for the global economy,” culminating in severe blows to the US currency order, says energy economist Dr. Kazi Sohag.

💬 “Approximately 17-20 million barrels of oil – representing over 20% of the world’s daily consumption – pass through this narrow waterway every day. These shipments originate primarily from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Iran, and Qatar, and flow toward major importers including China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union,” Sohag explained.

🗣 “But the ripple effects would not stop there. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Suez Canal—already volatile due to Houthi activity in the Red Sea—could also face further disruptions. Currently, 8.8 to 9.2 million barrels of oil and 4.1 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas transit those routes daily. A synchronized blockade across these chokepoints would magnify the supply shock exponentially.”

🔶 If sustained, the “immediate consequence” of the supply disruption will be “a sharp spike in energy prices,” not only via physical shortages of crude, but thanks to amplification by financial market speculators, hedge funds, banks and algorithmic traders trading futures, Sohag explained.

🔶 More broadly, the energy crunch may cause global stock markets to plunge and inflation to surge, “not just in fuel, but across transport, manufacturing and food production.”

🔶 Worse yet, “as the gap between monetary supply and real economic output widens, confidence in fiat currencies could erode, potentially triggering a crisis in the global monetary system,” Sohag stressed.

💬 “Oil-exporting countries such as Russia, Nigeria, Angola, Malaysia, and even the United States could see short-term gains from rising prices. But for the US, the benefits would be mixed. While energy producers might profit, a collapse in global trade and a reduction in dollar-denominated transactions could weaken the dollar's international standing.”

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🇷🇺 Russia must stay ‘island of stability’ amid global chaos - Kremlin

📍 Russia must remain “an island of stability, prudence and wisdom” amid growing international turmoil, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media, answering a journalist’s questions about alleged Anglo-French plans to secretly give a nuclear weapon to Ukraine.

💬 “When there are so many systemic breakdowns around us, there must be at least one island of stability and reason,” Peskov said. “I am confident that this is the country led by President Putin. If we give in to the general chaos, it will not lead to anything good.”

He added that all relevant services are carrying out their duties.

🟠 The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported last week that the UK and France are preparing to smuggle nuclear weapons into Ukraine.

🟠 The agency said Kiev could demand better terms in ongoing peace talks if it had an atomic or so-called “dirty” bomb.

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🇮🇷⚔️🇺🇸🇮🇱 Iran declares holy war against Israel and US

Latest updates on the escalating situation in the Middle East:

🟠 Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a declaration of war against Muslims by the US and Israel

🟠 Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani said Iran would deliver an unprecedented strike against the US and Israel

🟠 Iran reportedly used Fattah-2 hypersonic missiles for the first time in strikes on US bases in the Middle East

🟠 Iran urged Persian Gulf states to shut down American bases, warning it would target all facilities under US jurisdiction

🟠 Israeli military said it had destroyed most air defense systems in western and central Iran and eliminated 40 Iranian commanders

🟠 IDF reported that the Israeli Air Force continues to carry out strikes on leadership-linked targets in Tehran

🟠 UAE said it would not “stand idly by” during missile attacks

🟠 UAE airspace has been closed, dozens of flights canceled, and around 20,000 Russian tourists in the Emirates are facing disrupted departures

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🇮🇷⚔️🇮🇱Israel’s terror plans fail as Iran hits back with targeted strikes – analyst

Iran's Armed Forces “were not at all confused” by the US and Israeli strikes on their country, Iranian political scientist Emad Abshenas tells Sputnik.

💬 “The Iranian military immediately launched retaliatory attacks as they knew exactly where they wanted to strike thanks to a concrete and understandable plan of action,” he underscores.

He points to Israel’s botched plans to use terror tactics against many Iranian officials, stressing that “from a security standpoint, all necessary measures were taken to protect the Iranian authorities.”

Last but not least, ordinary Iranians quickly started to help the victims instead of running away, which was followed by them expressing joy over the Iranian military’s counterattacks, according to the pundit.

💬 “Some corrupt media outlets portrayed all this as celebrations over Iran being targeted, although the opposite was true: people rejoiced about the Iranian Armed Forces attacking Israeli and American bases,” the analyst wraps up.

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🇮🇷 Hormuz Strait: Iran’s strategic trump card for forcing enemies to the negotiating table

Iran is in an “existential confrontation” with the US and Israel, and restricting access to the Hormuz Strait – entry point to the oil-rich Persian Gulf region, is one of the “most powerful strategic cards” it holds, says Dr. Ali Mamouri, a former strategic communication advisor to Iraq’s prime minister.

💬 “Iran’s broader strategy appears to be buying time and raising the cost of the conflict, hoping to drag the United States into a prolonged and expensive confrontation that would generate domestic political pressure on President Trump to seek a ceasefire,” Mamouri told Sputnik.

“On the other side, Washington and Israel seem to be betting on internal collapse—expecting that military pressure might trigger protests, elite divisions, or defections within Iran’s security forces. So far, however, none of these internal fractures have appeared.”

💬 “A prolonged closure” of the Hormuz Strait would have a profound impact on the global economy, Mamouri says.

“A sustained disruption would likely trigger sharp spikes in global oil prices.” Beyond that, the import-heavy economies of Gulf countries, and oil import-dependent economies of Asia and Europe could descend into crises, shipping insurance premiums would surge, global supply chains wrecked, and inflation skyrocketing, “affecting everything from fuel prices to manufacturing and food supply.”

💬 “In this sense, a prolonged crisis in the Strait of Hormuz could trigger a domino effect across the global economy, combining energy shocks, trade disruptions and financial instability,” Mamouri stressed. “If Iran manages to maintain a sustained disruption, it could become a powerful bargaining tool to force negotiations and potentially halt the current military escalation.”

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🇺🇸 US doesn’t have enough missile interceptors for sustained war against Iran - analyst

💬 “The primary problem the US and its proxies in the region have is America’s own global overreach,” prolific geopolitical analyst Brian Berletic told Sputnik, commenting on reporting by Bloomberg that US missile interceptor stocks could run low “within days” if sustained Iranian retaliatory strikes continue.

🔹 Washington “is attempting to wage multiple wars and proxy wars of aggression spanning the globe from Latin America to Ukraine in Europe, Iran and Yemen in the Middle East while also building up forces for a confrontation with China in the Asia-Pacific,” the former Marine explained. “They simply do not have enough munitions to go around.”

💬 “It is difficult to say” just how long US and Israeli stockpiles will last at the current rate of usage (2-3 interceptors per missile), but the stocks were already “significantly depleted” even before the latest round of aggression began, with US strategy involving “more the moving around of existing stockpiles from around the globe than the production of additional munitions,” Berletic said.

🔹 After the June 2025 attacks, “the US clearly opted to pause the operations, use asymmetric methods to further cripple Iran economically, destabilize it politically, and undermine it militarily while shifting existing stockpiles of weapons and munitions from America’s many bases around the globe to launch another round of hostilities.”
Who pays for it all? “American taxpayers,” according to Berletic.

💬 “They pay for all of America’s oversea wars of aggression - not only in terms of tax dollars diverted for huge military expenditures, but also in terms of money not being available at home for the actual interests of the American people - including infrastructure, health care, and education.”

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🌏 Global reactions to the death of Iranian supreme leader

World leaders respond to the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US–Israeli attacks on Tehran:

🇷🇺 Russia: President Vladimir Putin conveyed condolences to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over Khamenei’s assassination

🇨🇳 China: Foreign Minister Wang Yi called the attack “unacceptable,” condemning what he called the “blatant killing of a sovereign leader” and warning the region could be pushed into a “dangerous abyss.” Beijing said the strikes violate international law and urged an immediate end to war.

🇰🇵 North Korea: Pyongyang labeled the US-Israeli attacks “illegal aggression” and a violation of Iran’s sovereignty, state media reported

🇵🇰 Pakistan: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended condolences to the Iranian people, calling the killing a violation of international rules and stressing that heads of state or government should not be targeted

🇮🇩 The Indonesian Ulema Muslim Clerical Council expressed its deepest condolences over Khamenei’s death and slammed US involvement in regional peace efforts, urging Indonesia to withdraw from the US-led ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: President Ilham Aliyev sent a letter of condolence to Pezeshkian, expressing sorrow over the “tragic death” and highlighting Khamenei’s role in Iranian political and religious life. Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov also sent condolences in a call with his Iranian counterpart and voiced concern over regional escalation.

🇪🇺 European Union: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described Khamenei’s death as a “defining moment in Iran’s history,” saying the bloc is considering practical steps for de-escalation. She added that “what comes next is uncertain.”

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