Putin condemns ‘cynical’ killing of Khamenei as Kyiv welcomes ‘chance for change’ in Iran

Vladimir Putin on Sunday offered his condolences to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over the killing of the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint strikes by the US and Israel over the weekend, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv welcomed a “chance for change” in Iran.

In a statement released by the Kremlin, Putin called the attack, which, according to Iranian state media, also killed several other senior Iranian military officials as well as members of Khamenei’s family, a “cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law”.

“In our country, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei will be remembered as an outstanding statesman who made an enormous personal contribution to the development of friendly ties between Russia and Iran and to raising them to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership,” the statement read.

Iranian state news outlets confirmed Khamenei’s death on Sunday morning, hours after US President Donald Trump said the ayatollah, whom he described as “one of the most evil people in history”, had been killed in the US and Israel’s “heavy and pinpoint” bombing campaign on Tehran as well as military sites across the country on Saturday.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that it had learned of Khamenei’s killing with “outrage and deep sorrow” and denounced what it called the “practice of political assassination and manhunt for leaders of sovereign states”.

A day earlier, it had condemned the US and Israel’s bombing campaign as a “deliberate, premeditated, and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state” that violated the “fundamental principles and norms of international law.”

“Washington and Tel Aviv have once again embarked on a perilous course that is swiftly pushing the region toward a humanitarian, economic, and potentially even radiological disaster,” it said on Saturday, adding that the US and Israel were using concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme to “remove the leadership of a state they deem undesirable because it has refused to yield to the dictates of force and hegemonic pressure”.

Tehran has long been a crucial ally of Moscow in the region, with the two capping a deepening of ties since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine by signing a comprehensive strategic partnership deal last year.

Iran has supplied the Russian military with thousands of Shahed attack drones to strike Ukrainian cities since 2022, as well as with key technology for Russia to boost its own production.

After the US and Israel began their strikes on Saturday, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry reiterated its support for the Iranian people and their “legitimate desire to live in security, freedom and prosperity” against the country’s ruling theocratic regime, which it said had been “mocking the Iranian people for decades [and] launched a large-scale policy of violence against its own people and other countries”.

On Sunday, Zelensky said Kyiv welcomed the “chance for change” Khamenei’s death presented for the Iranian people and expressed his hope that it be “used properly”.

He also urged Putin to engage with US-backed peace talks in good faith and end Russia’s war “in a dignified way” while he had the chance, warning that Khamenei’s death served as a reminder to Moscow that “justice does come”.