European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Sunday that the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was "a defining moment in Iran’s history".
A woman holds a poster with the picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as people gather after Khamenei was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Saturday, in Tehran, Iran, March 1, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Sunday that the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was "a defining moment in Iran’s history".
"What comes next is uncertain. But there is now an open path to a different Iran, one that its people may have greater freedom to shape," Kallas said on social media platform X.
"I’m in contact with partners, including those in the region that bear the brunt of Iran’s military actions, to find practical steps for de-escalation."
Khamenei was killed on Saturday, Iranian state media announced, in Israeli and U.S. air strikes that pulverised his central Tehran compound.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday that she spoke with Jordan's King Abdullah and that Europe stands "in full solidarity" with Jordan after Iranian strikes.
"With Khamenei gone, there is renewed hope for the people of Iran. We must ensure that the future is theirs to claim and shape," Von der Leyen said X.
"At the same time, this moment carries a real risk of instability that could push the region into a spiral of violence."
Reporting by Lili Bayer
Iran's veteran supreme leader and a host of other top figures and Revolutionary Guards commanders have been killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes but the ruling system has maintained its ability to strategise and operate in the war that began on February 28.
The Trump administration is quietly weighing Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as a potential partner, and even a future leader, Politico reported on Monday, citing two administration officials.
An Israeli precision strike hit a residential apartment building in Hazmieh - a predominantly Christian neighborhood east of Beirut - Monday afternoon, killing at least one person in what the IDF described as a targeted hit on a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Al-Quds Force.
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