Photos: Iranians rally nationwide to honour late leader Ali Khamenei
Thousands gathered across Iran to honor Ali Khamenei, whose assassination marked the start of the US-Israeli attack.
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The US attack on Iran comes from a place of confidence. On paper, the world’s most powerful military would seem unbeatable. But war can be unpredictable, and weaker opponents often resort to unconventional tactics, or asymmetric warfare, with early anti-colonial conflicts showing how it can work.
In 1946, for example, France entered the First Indochina War confident of victory, ignoring Vietnam’s desire to rid itself of French colonial rule. But the communist-led Viet Minh waged an effective guerrilla war, culminating in a French defeat in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the loss partly blamed on French hubris.
In the Algerian War of Independence from 1954 to 1962, the French once again failed in the face of the hit-and-run tactics of guerrilla warfare. Algerian fighters, who relied on allies in densely populated urban neighbourhoods, in cities like Algiers, used sabotage and assassinations to great effect.
During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong preferred dense jungle cover to limit the use of US airpower. They laid booby traps, sprung ambushes and dug hidden tunnels. The Viet Cong also used propaganda tactics to test the US public’s resolve to endure the deaths of American soldiers. A weaker force, in effect, won in 1975 by holding out longer.
In Afghanistan, starting in 2001, the US military again faced a weaker enemy. But the Taliban leveraged improvised explosive devices, suicide bombings, hit-and-run tactics and the killing of local officials to outlast the Americans, who left in 2021.
Iraq was no better. After the US’s conventional invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, the conflict spiralled into one of IED attacks on convoys, suicide bombings, assassinations and kidnappings.
Today, Ukraine has redefined asymmetric warfare, keeping the much larger Russian invasion force at bay since 2022, in part through the use of inexpensive consumer drones.
In the Middle East, Iran has asserted itself and kept the much more powerful US military and its allies off balance with proxies in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. The Houthis in Yemen, for example, have fired missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia, targeting the kingdom’s electricity infrastructure.
Now, as the US wages war with Israel’s help, Iran fires its cheap but effective Shahed-136 kamikaze drones at US military bases in the Middle East and at US allies in the Gulf region. The worry, of course, is that this war could be dragged out as a weaker opponent refuses to give in to a stronger aggressor.
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Smoke rises after a strike on oil storage facilities in Tehran. [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
Fire burns at the Aghdasieh oil depot in Tehran, Iran. [Screengrab/Social Media via Reuters]
Saturday’s strikes triggered large fires after hitting four oil storage facilities and an oil transfer and production centre. [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
At least four tanker drivers were killed in the attacks in Tehran and Alborz, according to Fars news agency. [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
A dark haze hung over Tehran on Sunday morning, and the smell of burning lingered in the air. [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
Plumes of smoke from a US-Israeli strike on an oil facility in Tehran. [Vahid Salemi/AP Photo]
Israel said it had struck “a number of fuel storage facilities in Tehran” that were used “to operate military infrastructure”. [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu]
Iranian state media described the incident as an “attack from the US and the Zionist regime”. [Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA]
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Mourners attend a funeral for girls and staff who lost their lives when a primary school in southern Iran’s Hormozgan province was hit on the first day of US-Israeli attacks on Iran. [Anadolu]
A woman hold a photograph of pupils during the funeral.[Anadolu]
Mourners carry Iranian flags as they gather for the funeral in Minab. [Anadolu]
Coffins draped with Iranian flags are carried on trucks during the funeral. [Anadolu]
A man holds a photograph of a student killed in the school strike. [Anadolu]
Thousands of people, including families and officials, attend the ceremony. [Anadolu]
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US forces "would not deliberately target a school", and the US military said it is "looking into" reports of "civilian harm". [Anadolu]
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called for "a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation" into the "horrific" attack. [Anadolu]
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Gandhi Hospital in northern Tehran was damaged on March 1, 2026, when a strike was carried out near it during the US-Israeli war on Iran. [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu]
Debris is scattered across wards and medical units after Gandhi Hospital and surrounding structures sustained heavy damage. [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu]
Gandhi Hospital officials say the facility was fully evacuated and patients were transferred to other hospitals across Tehran. [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu]
Residents inspect the aftermath of Israeli and US air strikes at Nilufar Square in the heart of the Iranian capital. [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu]
Buildings on Nilufar Square have sustained heavy damage. [AFP]
Few people are on the streets of Tehran, a city of nine million people, as Israel and the US conduct the war. [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu]
Motahari Hospital in Tehran also has been damaged as Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Israel and the US “continue to indiscriminately strike residential areas, sparing neither hospitals, schools, Red Crescent facilities, nor cultural monuments”.[Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
Pir Hossein Kolivand, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, wrote that monitoring and support mechanisms outlined in the Geneva Conventions must be invoked and called for condemnation of attacks on educational and medical centres. [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
Firefighters and officials work in a residential area near Nilufar Square after an air strike in Tehran. [Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA]
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People protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, India, after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Israeli and US strikes. [Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters]
Indian soldiers try to stop people as they march outside the office of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) during a protest against the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir. [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
People mourn Khamenei's killing in Jammu. [Channi Anand/AP Photo]
People hold photographs of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a protest against the US and Israel in Hyderabad. [Mahesh Kumar A./AP Photo]
People chant anti-US and anti-Israel slogans at a protest in New Delhi. [Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters]
Iranian state television announced Khamenei’s death in the early hours of Sunday. [Piyush Nagpal/AP Photo]
People protest against the US-Israeli attack on Iran and the killing of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in New Delhi. [Piyush Nagpal/AP Photo]
Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, urged protesters to remain calm and “avoid any actions that could lead to tension or unrest”. [Sharafat Ali/Reuters]
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People carry a large Iranian flag as they gather in Tehran. [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
Iranians gather to mourn Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s killing in US-Israeli strikes. [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
Khamenei was Iran's supreme leader since 1989. [Atta Kenare/AFP]
He was killed in the opening salvo of a massive US and Israeli attack that continued into a second day on March 1. [Atta Kenare/AFP]
Iranian state television confirmed Khamenei's death early on Sunday. [Atta Kenare/AFP]
People in Tehran mourn the death of Khamenei. [Atta Kenare/AFP]
The IRGC pledged to launch the “most ferocious” operation in history against Israel and US bases. [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
Iran's state broadcaster said 27 US bases in the region, as well as Israel's military headquarters and a defence industries complex in Tel Aviv, were among the targets of a new wave of strikes. [Atta Kenare/AFP]
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Yasser Goyani carries a tambourine and walks with children carrying illuminated lanterns in preparation for celebrating the arrival of the month of Ramadan on the eve of the first day of Ramadan, in the Old City of Mosul. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
A girl holds a glowing lantern on the eve of the first day of the holy month of Ramadan. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
Children carry lanterns on the eve of the first day of Ramadan at the Bytna Foundation for Culture, Arts and Heritage in the Old City of Mosul. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
Ghufran Thamer, 34, takes on the role of a musaharati in the Old City of Mosul, waking people for the suhoor meal during Ramadan. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
Worshippers perform tarawih prayers at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
The last tarawih prayers at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri were held nine years ago. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
Abeer al-Ghanem, 52, performs the role of a traditional storyteller, known as a hakawati, at the Bayt Ahluna Cultural Foundation. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
A customer buys raisin juice at Taha’s shop, one of the most famous in Mosul. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
A man arranges zalabiya, the traditional sweet popular during Ramadan, in his shop at the Nabi Yunus Market in Mosul. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
People shop at the historic Bab al-Saray market in the Old City of Mosul. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
Khalil Mahmoud, 65, has been selling dates in Bab al-Saray for almost 40 years. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
Fahd Mohammed Kashmoula, 55, second from right, plays the traditional game of siniya in the Old City of Mosul. [Ismael Adnan/Al Jazeera]
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Firefighters carry a body found amid the debris after a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Barrio Parque Jardim Burnier neighbourhood in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on February 24, 2026. [Pablo Porciuncula/AFP]
Brazilian military police officers search for victims amid the debris after a landslide caused by heavy rains in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais state. [Pablo Porciuncula/AFP]
Rescue workers carry the body of a victim recovered from debris after a landslide caused by heavy rains in Juiz de Fora. [Pablo Porciuncula/AFP]
Firefighters search for victims at the site of a landslide in Juiz de Fora. [Pablo Porciuncula/AFP]
State firefighters said 30 people had died in the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba, and that more than 200 people had been rescued. [Pablo Porciuncula/AFP]
Juiz de Fora’s mayor, Margarida Salomao, declared a state of emergency. [Pablo Porciuncula/AFP]
Rescue teams remove debris in search of victims at the site of a landslide in Juiz de Fora. [Pablo Porciuncula/AFP]
Juiz de Fora’s mayor, Margarida Salomao said her municipality was experiencing its wettest February on record, with 584mm of accumulated rainfall. [Pablo Porciuncula/AFP]
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The Italian flag is presented during the closing ceremony of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics 2026 at the Verona Arena. [Piero Cruciatti/AFP]
Flagbearers parade during the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics 2026. [Gabriel Bouys/AFP]
Jun Ichikawa performs as the opera character Madama Butterfly during the closing ceremony. [Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters]
The closing ceremony paid tribute to Italian dance and music. [Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo]
Italian singer-songwriter Joan Thiele (L) performs during the closing ceremony. [Piero Cruciatti/AFP]
A total of 116 medal events were held in eight Olympic sports across 16 disciplines, including the debut of ski mountaineering this year, over 17 days of competition. [Bernat Armangue/AP Photo]
Artists perform during the closing ceremony. [Bernat Armangue/AP Photo]
The Olympic and Italian flags during the closing ceremony of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics 2026. [Piero Cruciatti/AFP]
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A firefighter extinguishes a burning bus set on fire by organised crime groups at one of the main avenues in Zapopan, Jalisco state, Mexico. [Ulises Ruiz/AFP]
Smoke billows from burning vehicles amid a wave of violence following a military operation in which a government source said Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, also known as "El Mencho", was killed in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco state. [@morelifediares/Instagram/YouTube via Reuters]
Burned cars and trucks set on fire by organised crime groups on a highway near Acatlan de Juarez, Jalisco state. [Ulises Ruiz/AFP]
A man rides a bike past a convenience store that was set on fire, in San Francisco del Ricon, Guanajuato state, Mexico. [Alfredo Valadez/AP Photo]
A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle that was set on fire in Cointzio. [Armando Solis/AP Photo]
A car passes by a burned truck set on fire on a highway near Acatlan de Juarez. [Ulises Ruiz/AFP]
“El Mencho” was killed in a shootout in his home state on Sunday as the Mexican military attempted to capture him. [Alfredo Estrella/AFP]
National Guard personnel at Guadalajara airport in Tlajomulco, Jalisco. [Ulises Ruiz/AFP]
A man takes pictures with his mobile phone next to the members of the National Guard on patrol, after authorities reinforced security following roadblocks and arson attacks carried out by organised gangs in several states, in Acapulco. [Henry Romero/Reuters]
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