After Khamenei killed in strikes, Iran wakes to fear — and quiet joy

After US-Israel strikes kill Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, some Iranians feel fear and fragile hope.

TEHRAN − Iranians woke up to a world on March 1 that for the best part of four decades they dared not hope for: one without the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The atmosphere in Tehran was a strange combination of quiet, terror, hidden joy and official mourning said Ali, 42, a shopkeeper. He said that − unusual for car-clogged Tehran − there was very little traffic on the roads.

Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran's regime and a guardian of its rigid theocratic and social doctrine for 36 years, was killed in U.S. and Israel air strikes. His death, and the attacks, have launched Iran into a new era of uncertainty. The process to choose his successor has started. It's not clear how, or when, the conflict ends.

USA TODAY worked with a vetted longtime contributor to report from the streets of the Persian capital, known as one of the most censored countries in the world, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The people interviewed for this dispatch are being identified by first name only to safeguard their security.

The American and Israeli attack on Feb. 28 started early, around 8:15 in the morning local time. It was a weekend and people in Iran were just starting their workweek, which runs Saturday to Thursday. The airstrikes drove frightened residents into the streets. Parents hurried back to the schools where they had just left their children.