At least 22 people have died following pro-Iran protests in Pakistan and Iraq, triggered by US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In Karachi, hundreds of demonstrators marched on the US consulate, entering the reception hall and starting a small fire. Security forces opened fire, leaving ten dead and over 30 injured, according to a local medical official.
Violence in other parts of Pakistan resulted in ten deaths in Gilgit-Baltistan and two in Islamabad. In Iraq, security forces fired teargas as protesters tried to storm the US embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone. The protests reflect widespread anger across the Islamic world over Khamenei's killing.
Khamenei, 86, had been Iran's head of state for 36 years, overseeing a network of Iranian-backed militias. Iran-aligned groups including Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah issued condolences, praising him as a martyr. Hezbollah's secretary general described him as leading 'the march of jihad and resistance against the tyrannical and oppressive American and Israeli forces.'
In Lebanon, tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters mourned Khamenei in Beirut's southern suburbs. In Yemen, pro-Houthi media reported a 'million-person march' in support of Iran. However, in Syria, some celebrated the news, with people honking car horns and cheering. Government reactions across the Middle East have been muted, with most foreign ministries declining to comment.
