TEHRAN: Massive groups of Iranians flooded into the streets of Tehran and various other cities throughout Iran overnight, rejoicing at the announcement of the death of the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a day of coordinated attacks by the US and Israel.
Khamenei was killed in an epochal attack by the US and Israel, marking an inflexion point in the 46-year Shia-theocratic rule, as Tehran's retaliation set off conflagrations in a swath of the Middle East.
Numerous Iranians, both within the country and abroad, celebrated, although the looming possibility of further assaults by American and Israeli forces dampened some of the festivities.
Sources in Tehran, who managed to maintain communication with the outside world via Starlink satellite internet, informed Iran International that residents were leaning out of windows or congregating on rooftops shortly after the news broke, shouting in joy.
Despite significant disruptions to internet access, videos that seemed to depict people dancing and celebrating circulated online from cities such as Karaj, Qazvin, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Isfahan, and Sanandaj.
Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has vowed to punish the "murderers" of Khamenei and promised that the response will be the "most ferocious offensive operation in history" against the US and Israel.
In a statement posted on its official Telegram page, the IRGC said, "The hand of revenge of the Iranian nation for a severe, decisive and regrettable punishment for the murderers of the Imam of the Ummah will not let go of them."
It further said that the IRGC, the Armed Forces, and the Basij forces will "powerfully continue the path of their leader in defending his legacy, standing firm against internal and external plots and delivering what it described as a lesson-giving punishment to aggressors against the Islamic homeland."
US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday the killing of the 86-year-old cleric, ending his iron-fisted rule over Iran for 36 years.