The world is grappling with one of the most significant escalations in Middle East tensions in decades after the United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes on Iran.
The campaign has triggered a broad international reaction and raised fears of a wider regional conflict.
On February 28, 2026, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the attacks, as confirmed by the Iranian state media on Sunday.
The 86-year-old had led the Islamic Republic for more than three decades, and his death has created a leadership vacuum in Tehran’s theocratic hierarchy while inflaming passions across the region and beyond.
The US-Israel strikes followed months of escalating hostilities over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme, its support for proxy groups across the Levant and Gulf, and repeated missile and drone exchanges with U.S. and allied forces.
Iran’s response has included missiles and drones fired at Israeli territory and American bases in the Middle East, prompting broad condemnation and calls for swift diplomatic engagement.
Below are key reactions from global leaders and international figures, ranging from supportive to critical, reflecting deep divides over the legality, justification and consequences of the military action.
United States President, Donald Trump
In an 8-minute video posted on his Truth Social on Saturday, President Trump said that the U.S. has begun “major combat operations in Iran.”
He claimed Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program and plans to develop missiles to reach U.S. and appealed to the Iranian people to “take over your government.”
- “We’re going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally again obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy.
- “We’re going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces, and no longer use their IEDs, or roadside bombs as they are sometimes called, to so gravely wound and kill thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans,” Trump stated.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres
UN chief António Guterres has been unequivocal in his calls for de-escalation, describing the strikes as dangerous and warning that they violate international law and risk devastating humanitarian consequences.
Guterres urged all parties to immediately cease hostilities and return to diplomatic channels to prevent further suffering and instability.
- “I call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation. Failing to do so risks a wider regional conflict with grave consequences for civilians & regional stability. I strongly encourage all parties to return immediately to the negotiating table.
- “I reiterate that there is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes, in full accordance with international law, including the UN Charter. The Charter provides the foundation for the maintenance of international peace and security,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video address released as the operation unfolded, described the action as a “joint operation” with the US aimed at confronting what he termed an “existential threat” from Iran’s government.
He termed the Iranian leadership as a “murderous regime” that must never be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons, and suggested the strikes could open the way for Iran’s people to “take their destiny into their own hands”.
European leaders
French President Emmanuel Macron called the strikes an “outbreak of war” that “carries serious consequences for international peace and security.” France, he said, will call for an “urgent meeting” of the United Nations Security Council.
In a joint statement, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa called the developments “greatly concerning,” urging all sides to avoid steps that could further inflame tensions or weaken the global non-proliferation framework.
- “We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law,” von der Leyen and Costa wrote in statement posted on X.
In another joint statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed that their governments did not participate in the attacks, even as they urged a negotiated settlement between Iran and its adversaries.
Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, a Trump critic, shared support for the U.S. in a statement on X.
He called the Islamic Republic of Iran “the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East.”
Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese
Similarly, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his country supports the U.S. decision and “stands with the brave people of Iran in their struggle against oppression,” a reference to the protest movement that the Iranian regime has tried to suppress with force in recent months.
- “We support the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran continuing to threaten international peace and security,” he said in a statement released on Saturday.
- “Calls to uphold the human rights of the people of Iran have “gone unheeded,” he said in his post, adding: “A regime that relies on the repression and murder of its own people to retain power is without legitimacy.”
Russian President, Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday condemned the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a “cynical” murder.
The Russian government had earlier condemned the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as “a preplanned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent U.N. member state,” demanding an immediate halt to the military campaign and a return to diplomacy.
In a statement posted to Telegram, Russian Foreign Ministry accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding behind” concerns about Iran’s nuclear program while actually pursuing regime change.
It warned the attacks risked triggering a “humanitarian, economic and possibly radiological catastrophe” in the region and accused the U.S. and Israel of “plunging the Middle East into an abyss of uncontrolled escalation.”
