🌏 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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🇮🇷"We will continue the path with strength": Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the nation after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's killing, as the Leadership Council activates constitutional transition

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🚨🇺🇸Trump has no plans for a large-scale ground invasion of Iran but expects an extended air and naval campaign - Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton to CBS

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🇮🇷Ayatollah Khamenei’s assassination would make the confrontation far more dangerous and complex — Iranian FM Araghchi to Al Jazeera

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🧐 What сould Iran's сlosure of Strait of Hormuz lead to?

🗣 It may have “unpredictable global energy and strategic implications, which could in turn accelerate efforts to immediately stop the war,” Jordanian economic expert Hossam Aiesh tells Sputnik.

Energy crisis on the horizon?

🔶 Aiesh recalls that 20% of global oil trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz, amounting to more than 20–21 million barrels per day. “Stopping even half of this volume would cause a catastrophic supply shortage on the global market,” he warns.

🔶 According to the expert, the current situation “could push crude oil prices above $100 per barrel, plunging the world into a deep energy crisis for which it is unprepared, despite attempts by OPEC+ to offset some of the losses."

🔶 He doesn’t rule out that amid the instability, gold prices may rise to “historic highs, while cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin could lose ground as investors prefer real assets to digital ones.”

World on edge

💬 “The US is returning the world to a ‘zero point’ due to its unconditional support for Israel, which imposes additional heavy burdens on the global economy,” the expert concludes.

👉 As for Iran, it seeks “to establish new rules of engagement and restore confidence in its strategic capabilities in light of the exceptional situation caused by the death of the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] and several military commanders,” the pundit sums up.

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🇮🇷🇺🇸🇮🇱US–Israel attack on Iran could prompt spike in oil prices and Red Sea security risks – analyst

Rising oil prices will be the first thing to be felt, with price tags on futures markets expected to increase by about $15 over various timeframes, political analyst Paulo Botta tells Sputnik.

💬 “This will inevitably undermine developing countries’ plans to begin a recovery in the coming months or next year,” he points out.

Botta warns that the situation is complicated by the fact that the Houthis—an armed group allied with Iran—have decided to resume attacks on the Red Sea shipping routes to support Iran.

💬 “This means the need to reroute shipping, higher freight costs, additional security expenses, and, consequently, further rise in shipping prices,” the analyst concludes.

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🇷🇺🇦🇪 Russian and Emirati foreign ministers call for Iran ceasefire now

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan discussed the war on Iran in a phone call, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, stressing the urgent need to end the fighting.

Key statements from the Russian Foreign Ministry:

🔸 Lavrov said aggression by the US and Israel against Iran was unacceptable.

🔸 Both ministers stressed the need for the immediate ceasefire.

🔸 They noted the destabilizing nature of the latest war in the Middle East by the US and Israel.

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🇮🇱Netanyahu promises strikes on Iran to intensify after Khamenei’s assassination

Speaking from a rooftop in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined Israel’s next steps in the war with Iran and confirmed the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Key points from his remarks:

▪️Netanyahu said Israel had “eliminated the tyrant Khamenei” along with dozens of senior Iranian military and political leaders.

▪️He said Israeli forces were striking “in the heart of Tehran” with growing intensity, adding that operations will escalate further in the coming days.

▪️The prime minister said he had met with the defense minister, chief of staff and head of Mossad, and had instructed them to continue the campaign.

▪️He acknowledged Israeli casualties in Tel Aviv and Beit Shemesh, expressing condolences to the families of the dead and wishing the wounded a speedy recovery.

▪️Netanyahu said Israel is deploying the “full power” of the Israeli Defense Forces to secure its future.

▪️He also thanked US President Donald Trump for military support, and said their joint efforts enable Israel to “strike the terror regime hard.”

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📹 LIVE: Mourning ceremonies for Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran

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🚨🇺🇸'I have agreed to talk': Trump signals possible return to Iran negotiations

US President Donald Trump told website The Atlantic that Iranian leaders are seeking to restart talks – and that he has agreed to engage.

💬“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” Trump said. “They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long.”

👉Asked if the talks could begin today or tomorrow, he replied: “I can’t tell you that.”

Trump noted that many Iranian negotiators had been killed in two days of US and Israeli bombing.

“Most of those people are gone. Some of the people we were dealing with are gone, because that was a big hit,” he said. “They could have made a deal. They should’ve done it sooner. They played too cute.”

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🇺🇸Trump says he is not concerned about oil prices following the attack on Iran

"I'm not concerned about anything ... I just do what's right. At the end, it works out," he told Fox News.

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🇮🇷🇺🇸🇮🇱🔥 Iran, US and Israel trade blows as war escalates

Latest updates from the region:

🔸 The death toll from the Israeli bombing of a school in Minab, Iran, has risen to 153. Iran accuses the US and Israel of hitting the girls’ primary school in Hormozgan province and the Foreign Ministry says the number of dead could reach 160.

🔸 The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims it fired four ballistic missiles at the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) denies the carrier was hit.

🔸 CENTCOM confirms three US service members killed and five others seriously wounded.

🔸 The Emirati Defense Ministry says two Iranian drones targeted the Al-Salam military base in Abu Dhabi, adding that it reserves the right to respond.

🔸 Kuwaiti air defenses reportedly have intercepted 97 missiles and 283 drones. Separate reports say a French military base in Kuwait was struck by an Iranian Shahed drone.

🔸 Tankers have reportedly been hit in the Strait of Hormuz, with maritime traffic largely halted. The US claims it has sunk the Iranian frigate Jamaran.

🔸 The Israeli Defense Forces say Israel and the US struck targets in Tehran, including an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base and a military hospital.

🔸 The Russian Foreign Ministry calls for urgent de-escalation and condemns what it calls “political assassinations.”

🔸 US Senator Tom Cotton says the US has no plans for a large-scale ground operation but is weighing limited actions, including pilot rescue missions.

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🇮🇳 Mass protests erupt in India’s Jammu and Kashmir following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

A Sputnik correspondent reports from Srinagar

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📈 Forget crude: natural gas prices are about to go through the roof if Hormuz isn’t reopened soon

💬 “Gas prices may rise, because approximately 20% of the world’s LNG transits through the Strait of Hormuz, including all of Qatar’s production,” Igor Yushkov, a top Russian energy expert, told Sputnik, commenting on the Persian Gulf crisis.

🗣 “Qatar is one of the largest producers of LNG in the world, second only to Australia and the US. If there’s a shortage of LNG on the global market…the exchange price could easily exceed $1k or even 1.5k. We’ve seen similar prices in Europe even without such a shortage. So the price could skyrocket.”

📍 According to Yushkov, “everything will depend on how long the tension in the Strait of Hormuz lasts,” including not only Iran’s readiness to reopen it, but gas producers’ willingness to resume transit.

👉 “In any case, we will see higher shipping costs, higher insurance costs for ships,” with the situation “further exacerbated” by the fact that the Northern Hemisphere is still in the heating season, with Europe’s underground gas storage facilities being gradually depleted.

💬 “Even though Qatar gas physically goes primarily to Asian markets, the exchange price will rise everywhere,” same as oil, Yushkov clarified. Qatar itself also has no alternative to Hormuz. “Therefore, if it is unable to export LNG, Qatar will simply have to stop production.”

📨🇨🇳 Message to China

🗣 The present crisis is also “a major wake-up call for China,” Yushkov says.

🟠 “China is being shown that anything coming from the south is unsafe. Passage through the Strait of Hormuz may be interrupted today as part of the current conflict, but tomorrow the Americans could close it off to Qatari LNG supplies to the Chinese market.”

🟠 “Or they could close the Strait of Malacca, through which all the hydrocarbons going to China from Africa and the entire Middle East flow. Therefore, this is a signal to China that anything coming from the north is much safer, and much more difficult to shut down,” the observer summed up.

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