Category: Local news

(LONGDON) — The interim leadership council of Iran has been formed following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, Iranian state TV reported Sunday.

The interim leadership council will include Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the head of the judiciary and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, who was selected as the representative of the Guardian Council.

According to the Islamic Republic constitution, the Guardian Council consists of 12 members: six “faghihs,” or Islamic jurists, and six Muslim “experts” in various areas of law.

Watch ABC Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET for an ABC News special “Shockwaves: The Attack on Iran” to see the latest on the unfolding situation in the Middle East. Stream on Disney+ and Hulu.

Pezeshkian — who sources told ABC News was targeted in Saturday’s joint U.S.-Israel attack — resurfaced on Sunday on Iranian state TV. He said that the interim leadership council has started its work following the death of Khamenei.

In a taped video message broadcast on the Iranian state TV, Pezeshkian said that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic are “powerfully crushing the enemy’s bases.”

Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Larijani, appeared in a television interview in Iran on Sunday and commented on the death of Khamenei, saying, “The passing of a great personality has wounded the hearts of all of us.”

“Americans should know that by stabbing the hearts of the Iranian nation, their hearts will be stabbed,” Larijani said. “What they did in a cruel way towards the Iranian leadership has angered the people so much that they will never achieve their goals.”

He also said a temporary leadership council would be formed of the president, the head of the judiciary, and one of the jurists of the Guardian Council.

A spokesperson for the Guardian Council said, “The country’s constitution provides for the current situation and the leadership council will be in charge until the leadership is determined.”

According to the law, the leadership must be determined as soon as possible, given the war conditions. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said 40 Iranian commanders were also killed in Saturday’s attack that President Donald Trump described as a “massive and ongoing operation” against Iran and its Middle East proxies.

The IDF said the Israeli Air Force struck and eliminated seven members of the top Iranian security leadership who had gathered at several locations in Tehran.

Among those eliminated in the strikes was Abdolrahim Mousavi, who served as chief of staff of the armed forces, according to the IDF.

Mousavi served as one of the highest senior military ranking officials and was the successor of Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, who was killed in the opening strike of “Operation Rising Lion” in June 2025.

The majority of the highest-ranking senior military officials of the Iranian security leadership were also killed, the IDF said.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — In announcing the U.S. military strike on Iran, President Donald Trump went significantly beyond his previous justification of destroying the country’s nuclear program.

He’s now also calling for regime change — and encouraging the Iranian people to rise up and overthrow their government.

Three sources briefed on the attack told ABC News that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were both targeted during the strikes.

But whether American bombing could help make regime change happen — without also deploying U.S. forces on the ground — was unclear, as was who might replace Iran’s current leaders.

“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” Trump announced in a video posted to his social media account early Saturday morning.

Speaking to what he called “the great, proud people of Iran,” he added, “I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand.”

“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations,” he said.

“For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want, so let’s see how you respond.” he said.

“America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach,” he said.

Shortly after, in a brief phone call with a Washington Post reporter, the president said that all he wants is “freedom for the people” of Iran. 

In January, during widespread protests in Iran when thousands of Iranians were reported killed, Trump posted on social media, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price.”

“HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump added at the time, though he faced criticism for taking no further action at that point.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his own video statement Saturday echoed  Trump’s call, saying the attack’s goal was  “to remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran.”

Iran has claimed it is not pursuing a nuclear weapon and has the sovereign right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program for civilian purposes.

Imminent threat?
Up to now, Trump has said he preferred a diplomatic solution and has not presented a clear justification for why strikes are needed now, since he has repeatedly insisted Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated” in U.S. strikes he ordered last June — a claim he repeated at last week’s State of the Union address.

In making his new case for the strikes, the president is arguing attacks are warranted to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime” without providing clear evidence of that.

Trump also argued Iranian missiles could “soon” reach the U.S —  but the president has provided no details.

Iran is “developing long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas and could soon reach the American homeland,” he said.

Yet, according to a one-page document released by the Defense Intelligence Agency earlier this year, Iran is looking to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035.

Just a few days ago, after the president’s State of the Union address, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Iranian missiles could reach the United States “one day.”

“Clearly, they are headed in a pathway to one day being able to develop weapons that can reach the continental U.S. They already possess weapons that can reach much of Europe already now as we speak, and the ranges continue to grow every single year exponentially,” Rubio said.

Whether the Iranian missile threat was “imminent” — and whether Congress should vote on committing American troops to an extensive military operation — aimed at pursuing such a broad goal of regime change in Iran — will likely dominate the debate when lawmakers return to Washington this week.

 

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.