Attacks by the US and Israel on Iran were the dominant focus of international news coverage Sunday, alongside reports regarding a claim by Donald Trump that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed, a claim later confirmed by state media.
Global Reaction to Attacks
From Ankara to Zurich, the US president’s attack on Iran was met with a range of reactions, including fear, anger, and elation, with questions about the future course of events being a common theme across global media outlets.
New York Times Editorial
The New York Times editorial board published an opinion piece headlined “Trump’s attack on Iran is reckless.” While acknowledging that “nobody should mourn the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,” the paper criticized the president’s “ill-defined” goals, lack of “international and domestic support,” and disregard for both domestic and international law regarding warfare.
An essay by Iranian-American writer Amir Ahmadi Arian expressed a pessimistic outlook, stating “The Outlook Is Grim for a Freer Iran.”
UK and European Coverage
The Sunday Telegraph led with a front page featuring a large picture of Trump alongside a map of the Middle East and the headline “Khamenei ‘dead in rubble’.” Analysis by former national security adviser to Donald Trump, John Bolton, argued that “President needs Iranian commanders to turn against regime” accompanied the headline.
The Sunday Times reported “Ayatollah killed in blitz from America and Israel,” noting that Donald Trump had urged Iranians to “take back their country.”
The Sunday Mirror’s front page simply stated “Middle East in flames,” accompanied by a picture of a drone attack on an apartment block in Bahrain.
Under a split image of Trump and Khamenei, Switzerland’s Blick featured the headline “Trump’s biggest war,” with a subhead suggesting that a regime change would be historic.
France’s La Tribune questioned whether this marked “The end of the Mullahs?” and examined the “life and death of a religious tyrant.”
International Perspectives
The Sunday edition of Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post led with “Trump calls on Iranian people to rise up.”
Several UK papers, including the Mail on Sunday, focused on the potential threat to British holidaymakers, with the headline “British tourists blitzed and Iran’s leader ‘dead’ as Middle East erupts.” The Star took a similar line with “Brits Dubai missile terror” while the Sunday People warned tourists to “Get to shelter.”
The New York Post published an editorial headlined “Trump’s bold move to rid the world of Iran’s evil regime once and for all,” stating that the action was “easily the most significant single action in the Middle East in decades, perhaps centuries.”
The Jerusalem Post tweeted its front page with the comment, “Some front pages you frame.” The headline read “Khamenei dead” above an image of a protester burning a picture of the Ayatollah, with a sub-head stating “Israelis willing to suffer Tehran’s worst.”
In Turkey, Hürriyet reported “Israel incited it, the US attacked,” quoting Trump’s call for Iranians to “overthrow the regime” and noting that “Turkey did not support the attack.”
This article was amended on 1 March 2026. An earlier version translated a headline on Blick as saying “regime change was historic”; however, it said “regime change would be historic.”
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