A sense of disbelief fell over Iran’s capital, Tehran, on Sunday as the country came to grips with its new reality after its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a day of American and Israeli strikes.
Large crowds had poured into the streets of Tehran and other cities across the country early on Sunday morning to celebrate his death, amid fireworks, dancing and cheering. Hours later, scores more tearful mourners came out to the streets to grieve his death, waving Iranian flags and holding photos of Ayatollah Khamenei.
By midday, as fresh waves of airstrikes hit the capital, a strange cadence was playing out across the streets of Tehran: First the booms from the renewed assaults, followed by the sounds of many people cheering on the strikes they hope will bring down the government.
“It’s surreal,” said Azim, a 39 year-old in Karaj, a city west of Tehran. “Imagine your country is being attacked, but because of how disconnected people feel from the government, they react like that.”
Azim said he and his neighbours had been celebrating the death of Ayatollah Khamenei out on the streets until dawn, he said. Later on Sunday morning, he drove around the area to take in the scene, passing government checkpoints still manned by Revolutionary Guard soldiers and members of the feared Basij militia, a voluntary subsidiary of the Revolutionary Guards. But even they seemed to be in shock, he said.
Azim said he spoke to one member of the Basij militia who said he was unsure what to do.
“They couldn’t believe that with the first missile, the first strike, Ali Khamenei would be hit,” Azim said.
Late on Sunday morning, large crowds poured into Engelab Square in Tehran, to mourn the leader’s death. Many waved Iranian flags and held photos of Ayatollah Khamenei, according to photos posted by the Iranian judiciary’s news agency.
New York Times News Service