Iran declares 40 days of mourning after Khamenei’s killing, vows further strikes on US and Israel | Li Zhongqian

After U.S. President Donald Trump announced the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's official news agency said on March 1 that Khamenei had been killed on February 28 in what it called "Zionist and American aggression," and declared 40 days of national mourning. The Foreign Ministry said Iran would deliver a devastating response to Israeli and U.S. attacks, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its retaliatory strikes would be "more precise and more destructive."

The latest escalation follows what Iran called "Operation Epic Fury" — a large-scale U.S.-Israeli strike campaign that targeted Iranian military installations and leadership infrastructure, and which ultimately resulted in Khamenei's death on February 28. Iran's retaliatory missile campaigns, collectively named "Operation True Promise," are now in their fourth iteration in direct response to that assault.

In a statement on March 1, the Foreign Ministry said the "good, sacred, civilized and beloved homeland of Iran has once again suffered from the evil aggression of the United States and the Zionist regime," adding that multiple targets in several Iranian cities, as well as defense infrastructure and civilian facilities, had been hit. It stressed that Iran had been engaged in diplomatic talks with the United States and, despite being aware of the risk of U.S. military action, Tehran had again pursued dialogue and negotiations in order to demonstrate what it called the legitimacy of the Iranian people and to remove any pretext for aggression.

The ministry said the Iranian people were proud of their efforts to avoid war but that it was now time to defend the homeland and confront what it called enemy military aggression. It said the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran would respond firmly to the attackers. Accusing Israel and the United States of carrying out air strikes that violated Article 2, Paragraph 4 of the United Nations Charter, it described the attacks as a blatant act of armed aggression against Iran. Citing Article 51 of the Charter, it said Iran had the right to respond and would mobilize all available forces and resources to resist what it called this evil aggression and to contain the enemy's malicious aims.

Tehran said the UN Security Council bore a "grave responsibility" and must act immediately to halt what it described as the blatant military aggression launched by the United States and Israel against Iran, warning that the attacks threatened international peace and security. It urged the UN Secretary-General, the Council president and member states to swiftly carry out their duties, and called on all UN member states and members of the Non-Aligned Movement to strongly condemn the attacks and take collective action in response.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on February 28, Iran's UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, said "what is happening now is a blatant, open military act of aggression." He argued that the war launched "today" by the United States and Israel was not only a war against Iran, but also "a war against the UN Charter, against international law, and against the international legal order upon which the United Nations and the Security Council have been built for over eighty years."
Iravani said it was the duty of Security Council members to defend international law, in particular the UN Charter. Council members, he argued, did not need to judge the political systems of governments or decide whether military aggression or economic sanctions brought freedom or domination. "Merely expressing concern and issuing hollow condemnations is insufficient," he said, adding that the Council "must take action." He said that as long as the aggression continued, Iran would "firmly, moderately and unwaveringly" exercise what it calls its inherent and legitimate right of self-defense until the attacks ceased.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the U.S. government repeatedly insisted on negotiating with Iran, only to strike Iran during the negotiating process — a pattern he said had also played out in June 2025, when U.S. and Israeli forces struck Iranian nuclear and military facilities while diplomatic back-channels were reportedly active — and warned that Iran would not allow such conduct to go unanswered. Araghchi noted that as recently as 48 hours earlier, even the foreign minister of Oman had announced "significant progress" in the talks, adding: "We don't understand the reason for the U.S. attack on Iran. Iran will punish those who kill our people."