Leaders from around the world are reacting after the United States and Israel launched major airstrikes in Iran on Saturday.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the attacks, Iranian state media confirmed. Israeli officials earlier Saturday told The Associated Press that Khamenei had been killed. President Donald Trump also announced Khamenei’s death hours earlier, saying it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country.
Meanwhile, Iranian media reported strikes nationwide that killed and injured hundreds of people, including one that hit a girl’s school in the country’s southern region, reportedly killing dozens.
Iran retaliated by launching missiles and drones towards Israel, as well as American military bases in the region.
Ahead of the attacks, tensions were high as U.S. warships moved into the region. President Donald Trump said he wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program at a moment when the country is struggling at home with growing dissent amid nationwide protests.
Here’s how international figures have responded to the latest unrest in the Middle East:
Trump and Netanyahu confirm strikes
The U.S. president announced the attacks on his social media platform, TruthSocial, overnight Saturday. He posted a video of speech at 2:30 a.m. ET, touting “major combat operations in Iran” and calling on the Iranian people to rise up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled since 1979.
“Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach,” Trump said. “This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the military action in a statement recorded on video and posted to X. Netanyahu, who spoke in Hebrew, echoed Trump’s sentiments about the Iranian people, saying they must take their fate into their own hands.
Netanyahu said Israel plans for the current operation to be much more powerful than the 12-day war Israel launched against Iran last June.
Carney backs strikes, calls for civilians to be protected
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand released a joint statement from Mumbai, India, where they are currently on an official visit. They urged Canadians in Iran to shelter in place and take all necessary precautions.
“Canada’s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons,” the statement reads.
“Canada stands with the Iranian people in their long and courageous struggle against Iran’s oppressive regime,” Carney and Anand said, adding “Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security.”
Carney and Anand also said the Canadian government “urges the protection of all civilians in this conflict. We will take all possible measures to protect our nationals and Canadian diplomatic missions throughout the region.”
‘Canada stands with the Iranian people’: minister of foreign affairs
In a separate statement posted to social media Saturday evening, Anand said “Canada stands with the Iranian people.”
“We strongly condemn the attacks of the Iranian regime against our partners in the Middle East,” she wrote in a post shared on X. “We will continue to provide all possible support to Canadians throughout the region and urge Canadians in Iran to shelter in place.”
Anand added that she has spoken with G7 counterparts regarding the conflict in Iran, as well as foreign ministers in Israel, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Pahlavi lauds ‘humanitarian intervention’
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled eldest son of Iran’s last shah and a major leader among the Iranian diaspora, called Saturday’s strikes a “humanitarian intervention” that give the nation’s people an opportunity to “reclaim” their country.
Pahlavi cautioned that “despite the arrival of this assistance, the final victory will still be achieved by us,” referring to the Iranian people.
Pahlavi also had a message for the nation’s military, law enforcement, and security forces.
“You have sworn an oath to protect Iran and the Iranian nation, not the Islamic Republic and its leaders,” he wrote. “Your duty is to defend the people, not to defend a regime that has taken our homeland hostage through repression and crime. Join the nation and help ensure a stable and secure transition. Otherwise, you will sink with Khamenei’s ship and his crumbling regime.”
‘No imminent threat to Canadians’: Canadian police chiefs
“We want to reassure the public that, based on current intelligence, there is no indication of any imminent threat to Canada or Canadians,” the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police said in a post on X.
“Experience shows that periods of geopolitical tension can sometimes inspire extremist networks, hate motivated individuals or proxy-related threat actors to exploit these situations to incite hate-fueled violence,” the association said in a statement. “While there is no specific threat at this time, awareness and early reporting are essential components of prevention.”
UN condemns Saturday’s strikes
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed condemnation of the joint American-Israeli attacks and Iran’s retaliation Saturday.
“The use of force by the United States and Israel against Iran, and the subsequent retaliation by Iran across the region, undermine international peace and security,” he wrote. Guterres called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” and strongly encouraged all parties to immediately resume negotiating.
Reaction across the Middle East
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, wrote on X that the actions by the U.S. and Israel are “wholly unprovoked, illegal, and illegitimate,” adding that Iran’s military will “teach the aggressors the lesson they deserve.”
He also included a screenshot of a Trump tweet from 2012 in which the now-U.S. president wrote, “Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin, watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.”
Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, who mediated this week’s U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, said in a post on social media that he was “dismayed,” adding that “neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this.”
Saudia Arabia came out forcefully against the Iranian retaliation in a post on X, saying it condemns “in (the) strongest terms the blatant Iranian aggression and the flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan.”
European leaders call for U.S.-Iran nuclear talks
In a joint statement Saturday, Britain, France and Germany called for a resumption of U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations and condemned Iranian attacks on countries in the region. They did not directly comment on the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
“We condemn Iranian attacks on countries in the region in the strongest terms,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said. “Iran must refrain from indiscriminate military strikes. We call for a resumption of negotiations and urge the Iranian leadership to seek a negotiated solution. Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future.”
Macron said in a separate message posted in French on X that the strikes by the U.S. and Israel against Iran must stop, adding that they carry grave consequences for international peace and security.
The French president said Iranians must be able to build their future freely and that the ongoing escalation is dangerous for all.
China and Russia decry strikes by U.S., Israel
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson said that the government’s “highly concerned” about the strikes against Iran and called for “an immediate stop” to the military operation against the country.
Meanwhile, in a post on Facebook, the Russian foreign ministry called Saturday’s attack on Iran “a deliberate, premeditated, and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state, in direct violation of the fundamental principles and norms of international law.”
With files from Alex Ballingall, Alexa Mackie and The Associated Press
