Hezbollah supporters collect to mourn the dying of Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei within the southern Suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on March 1, 2026.
| Photograph Credit score: AP
Hundreds of Hezbollah supporters gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs to mourn Iran’s supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday (March 1, 2026), chanting “dying to America, dying to Israel” whereas crying over the killed determine.
“God is one, and Khamenei is the chief,” they chanted in unison, carrying black and waving Hezbollah and Iranian flags.
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Khamenei was killed when the US and Israel started launching waves of strikes in opposition to Iran on Saturday (February 28, 2026), sparking swift retaliation by the Islamic republic.
U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to proceed placing Iran “so long as mandatory”, whereas repeatedly urging Iranians to stand up and overthrow their authorities.
In a press release on Sunday (March 1, 2026), Iran-backed Hezbollah’s chief, Naim Qassem, mentioned the assassination of Khamenei and different Iranian officers was “the peak of crime”.
“We’ll undertake our responsibility of confronting the aggression,” Qassem mentioned, including that his motion wouldn’t go away “the sphere of honour and resistance”.
In Beirut’s southern suburbs, the place Hezbollah holds sway, mourners lifted up footage of the killed Iranian chief.
“His dying could be very painful, it’s a tragedy,” mentioned Zainab al-Moussawi, a 23-year-old instructor.
“It felt identical to the martyrdom of the Sayyed,” she added, referring to Israel’s killing of Hassan Nasrallah, then the chief of Hezbollah, in 2024.
Sitting within the entrance row, mourner Hassan Jaber mentioned: “I ask Sheikh Naim (Qassem) to go to conflict.”
Hezbollah has to date not taken motion for the reason that U.S. and Israel started placing Iran on Saturday (February 28, 2026).
It known as on mosques to recite the Koran and organise mourning ceremonies to mark the dying of Khamenei, each within the Beirut suburbs and different areas of Lebanon the place the group wields affect.
Nevertheless, in politically-divided Lebanon, Khamenei was not supported by everybody.
“He was at all times threatening… Arab nations, and had proxies in all places,” mentioned Hassan Harouq, a 44-year-old nurse in Beirut, who informed AFP he simply needs the nation to be “secure, and for it to make peace with the area”.
“It’s time for Lebanon to be on the precise path once more… and be the Switzerland of the East. The Lebanese individuals are drained.”
Lebanese authorities worry that Hezbollah may intervene to help Iran on this battle.
The nation remains to be struggling to get better from a year-long conflict between Hezbollah and Israel that ended with a November 2024 ceasefire, though Israel continues to strike targets it says are linked to Hezbollah.
President Joseph Aoun, following an emergency assembly of the nation’s Increased Defence Council, mentioned on Sunday (March 1, 2026) that “the choice of conflict and peace rests solely with the Lebanese state”.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday (February 28, 2026) rejected the prospect of Hezbollah “dragging” the nation into conflict.
Printed – March 01, 2026 10:53 pm IST