Tensions spilled onto the streets of Karachi as demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Consulate following confirmation that Ali Khamenei had been killed in joint American and Israeli airstrikes on Tehran.
Videos circulating on social media showed protesters breaching the outer entrance area of the consulate, damaging property and setting sections of the building ablaze. Thick smoke was seen rising from the compound as security forces attempted to disperse the crowd. There were no immediate official reports of casualties or arrests.
Regional fallout after strikes
The unrest in Karachi comes amid heightened tensions across the Middle East after the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes targeting Iran’s political and military infrastructure.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the killing of Khamenei hours before Iranian state television formally confirmed his death. Tehran has since declared a 40-day national mourning period.
The coordinated strikes reportedly began after diplomatic negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme collapsed, triggering a renewed military confrontation in the region.
Protests across India
Demonstrations were reported in Srinagar, Bandipora and Baramulla in Jammu & Kashmir, as well as in Lucknow and parts of Karnataka, where members of the Shia community gathered in large numbers. Protesters carried black flags and portraits of the Iranian leader, raising slogans condemning the strikes and expressing solidarity with the people of Iran.
In Srinagar and other districts of the Kashmir Valley, mourners held processions and recited elegies, describing the killing as an attack on the wider Muslim world. Similar scenes were witnessed in Lucknow, a city with a significant Shia population, where demonstrators marched through key areas demanding accountability and an end to what they termed foreign aggression in West Asia. In Ramban, effigies of U.S. President Donald Trump were burned during protests denouncing Washington’s role in the operation.
Protests spread beyond Pakistan
Demonstrations were also reported outside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, where protesters accused Washington of destabilising the region and demanded an end to foreign military intervention.
In India, protests erupted in parts of Jammu and Kashmir, including Ramban, where demonstrators burned effigies of President Trump. Shia community leader Syed Samar Kazmi condemned the killing, alleging that the Iranian leader was targeted through deception and vowing that the community would continue to speak out against what he described as oppression.
The storming of the consulate show the volatile reaction across parts of South Asia and the Middle East following Khamenei’s death. Analysts warn that attacks on diplomatic missions could further inflame tensions at a time when the region is already on edge.
Security has reportedly been tightened around U.S. diplomatic facilities in several countries amid fears of further unrest.
