Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 1 (ANI): Shia cleric Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawad on Sunday condemned the US-Israel strikes that resulted in the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He described the actions of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as cowardly, saying they had 'signed their own death warrants.' Maulana Jawad praised Khamenei as a leader who consistently supported the oppressed and termed his death a 'great loss to humanity.'

He announced three days of mourning, urging people to close their shops and businesses, but emphasised that participation should be voluntary. He also stated that a candlelight march would be held at 8 pm to honour the late leader.

'These are all cowards who martyred a leader who always helped the oppressed... Trump and Netanyahu have signed their own death warrants. Allah will punish them. We have announced three days of mourning, and people should close their shops and businesses, but we should not pressure anyone... It is a great loss to humanity... We will hold a candlelight march tonight at 8 pm, said Maulana Jawad.

Meanwhile, Shia Muslims in Ramban in Jammu and Kashmir and Lucknow held protests against the killing, expressing their anger over the strikes.

A protestor in Lucknow said that the US kept on deceiving Iran in the name of peace talks asserting that 'if one Khamenei dies, a thousand Khameneis will rise', adding that the war would continue.

'They (US) kept deceiving with talks and threatened about war, but our leader did not get afraid and did not bow... If one Khamenei is killed, a thousand Khameneis will rise and this war will continue... Trump cannot win easily,' the protestor told ANI.

This comes amid heightened tensions in West Asia following joint missile strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran. Explosions were reported in Tehran and other major cities, with Iranian state media claiming that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes. Reuters cited Iranian state media reporting that 40 days of public mourning was announced in Iran after Khamenei's death.

Meanwhile, The Times of Israel cited Iran's state media reporting that Ali Khamenei's daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law, and son-in-law were killed in Israeli-US strikes. The Israeli newspaper said that there is no official word on the fate of Khamenei himself.

CNN reported news of celebrations in several cities in Iran. According to the news report, whistling, cheering and slogans of 'Death to the Islamic Republic' and 'Long live the Shah' were heard on the streets of the cities.

Fox News posted a video and reported that Iranians were celebrating the death of Khamenei on the streets of Besat Town, a suburb of Karaj, Iran.

Former Spokesperson for the state of Israel Eylon A Levy posted another celebration video on X, saying, 'Iranian women are dancing in the streets--without hair coverings--after hearing that Israel killed the tyrant Khamenei. So many Western leaders should feel ashamed at their cowardly response this morning. We will all remember.'

Iranian activist and Journalist, Masih Alinejad, posted another video with the message, 'A video of Iranian people celebrating inside Iran, Am I dreaming? Hello, new world.'

Earlier, the death of the Ayatollah was claimed by US President Donald Trump, calling it justice for the people of Iran.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, 'Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS...The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD.' (ANI)