Following the February 28, 2026, US- and Israel-led military strikes that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—as detailed in prior coverage—reactions poured in worldwide. A Washington Post obituary faced backlash for its sympathetic tone, while Iranian dissidents celebrated and condemned critics of the operation.
The Washington Post's obituary portrayed Khamenei as an "avuncular figure" with a "bushy white beard and easy smile," highlighting his interest in Persian poetry and Western novels like Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Misérables,’ and quoting some as calling him a pre-power "closet moderate."
Critics pounced. Actor James Woods shared a paragraph, writing, “This is how the Washington Post eulogized the dirt bag who murdered 40,000 innocent civilians this month. This is not satire.” Mary Vought of The Heritage Foundation quipped, “This reads like a dating app profile.” Podcast host Alec Lace blasted, “The Washington Post just published a loving eulogy for terrorist dictator Ali Khamenei—like he’s a sweet grandfather, not the butcher who slaughtered thousands of Iranians and 600+ Americans. Shame on WaPo. Pure disgrace.” The Post drew similar ire in 2019 for calling ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi an “austere religious scholar.”
Sky News Australia anchor Rita Panahi, who fled the Islamic Revolution as a child, addressed Khamenei in Persian: “You son of a b*tch, shame on you, burn in hell!” She proposed renaming Tehran after Trump if he ends the 47-year “Islamist tyranny” and slammed actress Jane Fonda's label of the strike as “dangerous and insane,” replying, “This b*tch. Again. If the liberation of genuinely oppressed women fills you with dread then you may be a witch.” Fonda's 1972 Hanoi activities, including anti-US POW rhetoric, were invoked.
Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad, who survived three regime assassination attempts, rejoiced to CBS News: “I love America... The same country that I wished death saved my life three times and now helps my people in Iran. They are celebrating out of joy.” She mocked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's condemnation of the strikes as a “catastrophic escalation,” inviting him to her safe house and contrasting his hijab anecdote with her assassin-dodging life. Alinejad was seen crying joyfully in the street: “Ali Khamenei is dead! Freedom! Freedom! I love America. I love Iran!”
