Some celebrate in Iran after supreme leader's death, but deep fear and uncertainty remain

“Inside, we are in party mode,” said one man in northern Tehran who expressed joy over Khamenei's death. He was reached via messaging apps. “But unless we are safe from them, people are not celebrating publicly because they are ruthless and even more vengeful.”

Authorities moved to show public support, rallying massive crowds in several cities to mourn a leader that state media declared a martyr. Video run on state media — verified by the AP — showed tens of thousands filling the sprawling main squares of the southern and central cities of Isfahan and Yazd, waving Iranian flags and chanting, “Death to America.”

Several of those who joined past anti-government protests, reached by The Associated Press on Sunday, said the state’s security grip remained too strong to go out for a new round of mass demonstrations, despite calls by U.S. President Donald Trump for Iranians to “seize their government.” With communications into Iran unstable, AP contacted eight Iranians, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Golshan Fathi, a woman living in Tehran, said the Basij paramilitary, which played a key role in the bloody crushing of mass protests last month, was showing a heavy presence in the streets of the capital. A doctor in the northern city of Rasht said Basijis pulled one man out of his car after he honked his horn in celebration.

Iranian society at the moment, Fathi said, is living “between hope and fear."

Some cheered, some honked

Iranian society is deeply divided. Hundreds of thousands marched in the streets across Iran last month, chanting “Death to Khamenei” in what were likely the biggest protests ever against the clerics' rule in place since 1979. A bloody crackdown crushed the street movement, but not the bitterness against the government. At the same time, large numbers of loyalists remain tied to the system for religious, social or patronage reasons.

Iran’s leadership quickly moved to show it was still in control even after the deaths of Khamenei, the defense minister, army chief of staff and a top security adviser. President Masoud Pezeshkian said a new leadership council had begun its work, and the foreign minister said a new supreme leader would be chosen in “one or two days.”

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf delivered an address on state TV on Sunday, saying the government and military did not depend on individuals.

“We prepared ourselves for these moments and set plans for all scenarios,” he said, “even for after the martyrdom of our dear Imam Khamenei.”

State media announced Khamenei’s death just after dawn on Sunday. Celebrations erupted in some areas. Videos circulating online and verified by the AP showed dozens cheering and dancing and cars honking their horns in the streets of Karaj, a city near Tehran. Fathi in Tehran and the doctor in Rasht said cheers and celebratory chants were heard from windows and rooftops around their neighborhoods.

“It was one of the best nights, if not the best night, of our lives,” the doctor said in a voice message. “It was actually my first time ever smoking a cigarette. ... We didn’t sleep at all. And we don’t even feel tired.”

During the day, Iranians faced the reality of living under bombardment, with no idea when it will end. Blasts in Tehran sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky in an area where there are government buildings. Iranian authorities say more than 200 people have been killed in the strikes, including at least 165 killed in a strike at an all-girls school in the country’s south.

Residents of Tehran rushed to supermarkets on Sunday, emptying shelves of bottled water, bread, eggs and milk. Long lines at gas stations across the capital suggested fears of possible fuel shortages or plans by many to leave the city. State television footage showed heavy traffic on major highways, with cars packed bumper-to-bumper as families attempted to reach northern provinces. Others said they were staying home, deciding that was safer.

Iran fired missiles at an ever-widening list of targets in Israel and Gulf Arab states in retaliation while Israel pledged “non-stop” strikes against Iran’s leaders and military.

Some talk about a possible ‘new page’ for Iran

Fathi said she fears the Islamic Republic will hold onto power, “leading to chaos or even causing the splitting of the nation.

“But maybe, maybe from this morning, that new page for Iran where everything changes has begun. People are hopeful,” she said. As she spoke, she heard the sound of explosions in the capital. “Right now, you see, Israel is hitting us. Fighters have violated our country’s airspace and are freely bombing us and we are just sitting here.”

Iranians are still reeling from last month’s crackdown, when security forces killed thousands. That and the ensuing wave of arrests have made many fearful of taking the streets again. Others are wary of U.S. and Israeli intentions or fear that Iran will be thrown into chaos and division.

“I don’t think that the people have their determination in their own hands yet,” the doctor in Rasht said. “This is a foreign war at the end of the day. But if the regime is so weakened and then another call for protests is made, this is another story.”

Reza Mehrabi, 67, said celebrations of the deaths of Iranian senior leaders seem premature. He recalled similar celebrations after the 1979 revolution when the Shah was deposed, and the Islamic Republic’s reign began.

“I saw some people were happy about the losses, but when I remember 1979 revolution and its aftermath, I need more consideration to understand if the nation and the country is on the right path.”

But there's uncertainty about how much the strikes will embolden Iranians

One 27-year-old Tehran resident said a strike fell a few hundred yards (meters) away from her house, terrifying her with the explosion. “I have no idea which direction we are heading,” she said. “I wish all these things were just a bad dream that vanishes when I wake up.”

Despite Trump’s calls for Iranians to rise up, experts say launching a new wave of mass demonstrations may not be so simple.

“The reality is, the Iranian people don’t have the means to displace the Islamic Republic on their own,” said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies-Europe.

The strikes will embolden some people, he predicted, but many will be wary of taking to the streets again “because the regime retains its repressive capacity … and there should be no doubts it would be willing to use violence again against protesters."

“Even within families and within neighborhoods there may be very disparate views” about Khamenei’s killing, especially because it was at the hands of foreign powers, he said.

Both in last summer’s 12-day war with Israel and so far in this round of bombardment, “the political and military apparatus has been hit hard, but they have replaced people and maintained their cohesion,” said Arang Keshavarzian, professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University.

During the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iranians from across society held massive protests lasting for months, eventually leading to the shah fleeing the country. “But we are far from the 1979 model in which Iranians organized strikes and nationwide organizations of merchants, students, and clerics,” Keshavarzian said.

“Just because Iranians have many grievances and make claims on the state on a daily basis, it does not necessarily mean that this will scale up to a social revolution," he said. "And bombing Iran does not change this.”

El Deeb and Chehayeb reported from Beirut.