Missile strikes continue as Iranian leaders project defiance after Khamenei

Strikes keep hitting Tehran, but Iran’s surviving leaders are closing ranks and vowing revenge.

Tehran, Iran – Huge air strikes by the United States and Israel continue to hit Tehran and other cities as the Iranian establishment ponders its future while launching projectiles across the region.

The capital was rocked numerous times on Sunday after a series of attacks hit multiple neighbourhoods, with the Israeli army saying military centres were among the targets. Iranian authorities have largely refrained from discussing missile impacts, and internet connectivity remained almost entirely blocked for a second day.

After Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top commanders were killed in Tehran at the start of the war on Saturday, the remaining top authorities of the Islamic Republic are emphasising that the theocratic establishment has a clear path forward based on its own internal mechanisms.

By laws put into motion after the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, a clerical body called the Assembly of Experts is tasked with selecting the next supreme leader.

Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, said that a new leadership council “has begun its work” after the death of Khamenei. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera the process should be complete within days.