Powerful explosions shake Tehran - state media

Iran appointed Ahmad Vahidi, a former defense and interior minister, as the new commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Sunday, state media reported on Sunday.

Vahidi is under US sanctions for his role in Iran’s suppression of protests, including the use of lethal force by security services during the 2022 nationwide protests.

The announcement followed the Saturday killing of several senior Iranian military commanders, including Mohammad Pakpour, the previous head of the Guards.

Iran confirmed on Sunday the deaths of two other senior commanders of the Islamic Republic’s armed forces in US and Israeli airstrikes.

Those killed were Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Abdolrahim Mousavi and Aziz Nasirzadeh, Iran’s defense minister and a former air force commander and deputy chief of staff of the armed forces.

Iran’s state media reported the two men were killed along with IRGC Commander-in-Chief Mohammad Pakpour and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s adviser Ali Shamkhani while attending a meeting of the Defense Council.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they launched “extensive missile and drone” attacks targeting US military bases and Israeli sites across the region.

In a statement Sunday morning, the IRGC said the strikes targeted 27 US bases as well as Israeli facilities including the Tel Nof Airbase, the Israeli army’s command headquarters at HaKirya in Tel Aviv and a major defense industrial complex in the city.

Tehran will take “a different and harsh step of revenge with successive, regrettable slaps,” the statement warned.

Iraqi protesters clashed with security forces near Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone as demonstrations erupted following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

According to a video posted on X and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking unit, protesters appeared to be mobilizing toward the US embassy amid anger over Khamenei’s death.

Footage showed demonstrators waving flags and chanting slogans while mourning the Iranian leader. Iraqi security forces moved to block the crowds as tensions rose around the diplomatic district.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has condemned the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as “a great crime” and vowed that those responsible would face consequences, according to a statement from his office.

“This great crime will never remain unanswered and will turn a new page in the history of the Islamic world and Shiism,” the statement said'

Pezeshkian said Iran would respond with “all our strength and determination,” warning that the perpetrators and commanders of the attack would come to regret it.