Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen, on Sunday condemned the reported assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, describing it as unlawful and morally indefensible.
In a statement posted on X on March 1, the Hyderabad MP criticised the joint US-Israel strikes on Iran, questioning their timing when diplomatic talks between Tehran and Washington were underway in Geneva. He cited reports claiming that more than 200 people had been killed in the attacks, including 108 who died after a strike hit a girls’ school. Owaisi urged an immediate halt to military action, warning that escalating hostilities would destabilise the region further.
Drawing parallels with other regional tensions, he also referred to the ongoing Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict, alleging that both Israel and Pakistan were acting as aggressive forces in their respective neighbourhoods. Quoting poet Muhammad Iqbal, Owaisi framed the moment as one of trial and resilience.
Iranian news agencies Tasnim and Fars reported Khamenei’s death on Saturday, following large-scale airstrikes by the United States and Israel targeting military installations, air defence systems and sites linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Explosions were reported in Tehran and other major cities, including Qom, Isfahan, Kermanshah and Karaj.
Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who had led Iran since 1989, was killed in a major joint airstrike by the United States and Israel on Saturday that targeted his compound in Tehran, Iranian state media confirmed. Following the attack, U.S. President Donald Trump urged the Iranian people to seize control of their destiny and rise up against the country’s leadership, which has been in place since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
