‘Death to the dictator’: Why Iranians are celebrating as US missiles rain down ...Middle East

As dawn broke over Tehran on Sunday, state television interrupted its programming with news that would once have seemed unimaginable: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — the theocratic ruler who had dominated Iranian politics for nearly four decades — was dead.

Even as further explosions echoed across the capital, the immediate reaction from many inside the country was not grief.

It was celebration.

“I haven’t experienced this level of happiness and joy in years,” said Mojdeh*, a university student in her early twenties who has taken part in protests and seen friends shot dead in front of her.

Then she added, bluntly: “Although this is not the end of everything… we are ready for revenge and to seek blood retribution from the remaining members of the regime.”

Across Tehran and other cities, videos circulated showing people dancing in the streets despite warnings to remain indoors as air strikes continued. In Karaj, northern Iran, residents brought DJ decks into the streets, turning neighbourhood corners into impromptu dance floors.

From apartment balconies in western Tehran, people were filmed cheering and chanting “death to the dictator” as celebrations echoed between the high-rise blocks. Women without headscarves – which is still illegal under Iranian law – moved freely in public squares. Mothers of protesters killed in recent crackdowns held up photographs of their children and said they had promised not to dance again until this day.

In truth, the mood had begun shifting even before state television confirmed Khamenei’s death.

Earlier that morning, as footage spread of explosions near his compound, one woman filming from her apartment overlooking the Supreme Leader’s office shouted in disbelief and joy: “The office of the Supreme Leader was hit!” Another voice responds simply: “Finally.”

Heidar*, a 40-year-old shopkeeper in Tehran’s Shoosh bazaar, told me he heard explosions throughout the day. “Me, my family and everyone I know are happy,” he said. “It means we might finally be rid of this regime.”

‘We’ve tried to protest. Every time, the response has been blood’

For many watching from abroad, the scenes are jarring. How can a country under bombardment erupt in joy?

But for many inside Iran, the distinction is clear: they don’t see this as an attack on their country, but on the Islamic Republic.

Khamenei, who became Supreme Leader in 1989, held ultimate authority over the state’s political, judicial and military institutions. Under Iran’s constitution, the doctrine of Velayat-e Faqih — the “Guardianship of the Jurist” — placed him above elected officials, granting him sweeping powers that effectively made his word final. Presidents came and went, elections were held, but the direction of the state ultimately rested with him.

Under his rule, successive waves of protest – from the 2009 Green Movement to the 2019 Bloody Aban demonstrations and the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising – were met with live ammunition, mass arrests and executions. More recently, during nationwide protests in January this year, tens of thousands were reportedly killed within days of a sweeping crackdown.

“We’ve tried to protest. We’ve tried to reform. Every time, the response has been blood,” said Shirin*, in her mid-30s.

That distinction – between the Iranian people and the Islamic Republic – is central to how many are processing this moment. Heidar said the mood now was markedly different from last year’s 12-day Iran-Israel war, when many Tehran residents fled the city in fear.

Between hope and uncertainty

In a message amid the strikes, Donald Trump urged Iranians to seize what he called a generational opportunity: “When we’re finished, take over your government,” he said shortly after the operation began, describing it as a rare chance for change.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the shah who was overthrown in the revolution of 1979, addressed Iranians directly, urging unity and preparation for what he described as a decisive moment in pursuit of “final victory” and freedom. In a statement following Khamenei’s death, Pahlavi declared that the Islamic Republic had “in effect reached its end”.

Inside the country, some protesters say support for Pahlavi has widened beyond traditional monarchists – not as an ideological embrace, but as a pragmatic calculation.

“It’s not about worshipping him,” Mojdeh said. “It’s about accepting the only possible option for now.”

But regime change is far from inevitable.

Under Iran’s constitution, a temporary leadership council – comprising the president, the head of the judiciary and a cleric from the Guardian Council – has assumed Khamenei’s duties until the Assembly of Experts appoints a successor.

There are also mounting reports of civilian casualties. Iranian officials say at least 148 people were killed after an air strike hit a girls’ school in the town of Minab in southern Iran, near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base.

For many Iranians celebrating in the streets, such reports are a painful reminder of how quickly hope can collide with tragedy.

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Fear is real. Older Iranians who remember the Iran–Iraq war are anxious and reports of civilian casualties have heightened concerns. But among younger Iranians who have lived most of their lives under political violence and repression, there is a sense that the death of Khamenei represents a crack in a system that for too long seemed impermeable.

Mojdeh, who says she has followed American politics for years and disagrees with much of Trump’s record, admitted to “mixed and strange feelings”.

She added: “I know that no one other than Trump would have done such a thing — yet at the same time, it has brought us thousands of steps closer to our ideals.”

For some watching from abroad, the celebration looks shocking. For many inside Iran, it feels less like cheering war, and more like breathing after decades underwater.

Sahar Zand is a British Iranian journalist and documentary maker

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