World leaders on Sunday strongly reacted to the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli airstrike, with a number of politicians calling it a blatant act of aggression.
After confirming Khamenei's killing, Pakistan's president and prime minister issued separate statements expressing sorrow over the "martyrdom" as well as solidarity with the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
President Asif Ali Zardari conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of Iran, stating that Pakistan stood with the Iranian nation in this moment of grief and shared in their loss. "The passing of a leader of such stature, along with other senior figures, will be deeply felt across the Muslim world," he noted.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed concern over this violation of international law norms, adding that it is an age-old convention that heads of state/government should not be targeted.
In a note to Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian released by the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the killing of Iranian supreme leader and members of his family was a "cynical" murder that violated all the norms of human morality and international law.
"In our country, Ayatollah Khamenei will be remembered as an outstanding statesman who made a huge personal contribution to developing friendly Russian-Iranian relations and bringing them to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership," Putin said.
China also firmly opposed and strongly condemned the attack and assassination of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and urged an immediate cessation of military operations, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Sunday.
"The attack and killing of Iran's supreme leader is a grave violation of Iran's sovereignty and security. It tramples on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and basic norms in international relations. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns it," the spokesperson said.
Indonesia's Ulema ?Muslim Clerical Council expressed its deepest condolences for the death of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, as a result of the Israeli-American attack on February28.
"The US, which is playing a central role in managing the Palestinian conflict through the Board of Peace, faces a major question: is this strategy truly aimed at a just peace, or is it actually strengthening an unequal security architecture and burying Palestinian independence? Therefore, the MUI urges the Indonesian government to revoke its membership from the BoP."
North Korea condemned the US and Israeli attack on Iran as an "illegal act of aggression", claiming it had shown Washington's "rogue" nature.
The military campaigns against Iran by the two states constitute "an illegal act of aggression and the most despicable form of violation of sovereignty in their nature from A to Z", a spokesperson for the North's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"The DPRK condemns in the strongest tone the shameless rogue act of the US and Israel," the official said, using the initials for the North's official name.
Pyongyang said the US and Israel chose to "abuse military muscle in order to realise their selfish and hegemonic ambition".
The European Union's 27 nations called for "maximum restraint" and ?full respect for international law in the Iran conflict and across the Middle East, the European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
"We call for maximum restraint, protection of civilians and full respect of international law, including the principles of the United Nations Charter, and international humanitarian law," said a statement issued by Kallas on behalf of all the EU's member countries.
However, European Commissioner Ursula Von Der Leyen reacted to the news by stating that after Khamenei's assassination, there was renewed hope for the people of Iran.
"We must ensure that the future is theirs to claim and shape. At the same time, this moment carries a real risk of instability that could push the region into a spiral of violence."
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that for the moment, Iran is in a transitional phase, and it remains to be seen how long it will last and what impact the war will have.
"What is certain is that a leader who had guided Iran for decades is gone, and that is bound to have consequences, including the loss of Khamenei's personal authority over the population."
French Government Spokesperson Maud Bregeon noted that the Iran leader was allegedly "responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in his country and in the region, so one can only welcome his disappearance. "It is now up to the Iranian people to choose their own destiny."
