At Least 25 Killed at Pakistan's Pro-Iran Weekend Protests

Security personnel fire tear gas as Shiite Muslims shout slogans during a protest outside the US consulate in Karachi after the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei amid US-Israel strikes. Asif HASSAN / AFP
Security personnel fire tear gas as Shiite Muslims shout slogans during a protest outside the US consulate in Karachi after the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei amid US-Israel strikes. Asif HASSAN / AFP
TT

At Least 25 Killed at Pakistan's Pro-Iran Weekend Protests

Security personnel fire tear gas as Shiite Muslims shout slogans during a protest outside the US consulate in Karachi after the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei amid US-Israel strikes. Asif HASSAN / AFP
Security personnel fire tear gas as Shiite Muslims shout slogans during a protest outside the US consulate in Karachi after the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei amid US-Israel strikes. Asif HASSAN / AFP

The death toll from Pakistan's violent weekend protests over the killing of Iran's supreme leader has reached at least 25, according to an AFP tally on Monday.

Demonstrations erupted in several major cities in Pakistan, including the southern megacity of Karachi where some protesters attempted to storm American diplomatic buildings.

An AFP journalist witnessed hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters trying to enter the United States consulate, prompting clashes with police.

At least 10 deaths were reported and over 70 were injured, the office of the Karachi police surgeon said, while a hospital toll seen by AFP listed nine people as having died from gunshot wounds.

In Pakistan's northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, at least 13 people were killed in clashes between protesters and police, officials said.

Seven people were killed in Gilgit, a rescue official said, while six others died in Skardu, a doctor told AFP on Monday.

Authorities have imposed a late-night curfew, which will remain in place until Wednesday in Gilgit and Skardu, where the army has been deployed on the streets.

Two more people were killed as thousands of people gathered in the streets of the capital, Islamabad, many holding photos of the late Iranian leader Ali Khamenei.

AFP journalists saw police firing tear gas to disperse crowds near the diplomatic enclave housing the US embassy on Sunday afternoon.

- 'Grief and sorrow' -

Israel and the United States launched their military operations on Iran early Saturday, quickly killing the long-ruling supreme leader and prompting outrage in neighboring Pakistan.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has close ties with both the United States and Iran, said on Sunday evening that the killing of Khamenei was a "violation" of international law.

"It is an age old convention that the Heads of State/Government should not be targeted," Sharif wrote on X.

The "people of Pakistan join the people of Iran in their hour of grief and sorrow and extend the most sincere condolences on the martyrdom" of Khamenei, he added.

At Sunday's Karachi protest, people chanted slogans against the United States, Israel and their allies.

"We don't need anything in Pakistan that is linked with the US," a protester, Sabir Hussain, told AFP.

Earlier a crowd of young people climbed over the main gate and gained access to the driveway of the consular building, smashing some windows.

Police fired tear gas at the protesters, who dispersed, the AFP journalist saw.

The embassies of the United States and Britain both urged citizens in Pakistan to be cautious in the country.



Israel Defense Minister Says ‘Mission Not Complete’ on Iran

Then Israeli transportation minister Israel Katz attends the cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem February 17, 2019. (Reuters)
Then Israeli transportation minister Israel Katz attends the cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem February 17, 2019. (Reuters)
TT

Israel Defense Minister Says ‘Mission Not Complete’ on Iran

Then Israeli transportation minister Israel Katz attends the cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem February 17, 2019. (Reuters)
Then Israeli transportation minister Israel Katz attends the cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem February 17, 2019. (Reuters)

Israel is not finished with Iran, its defense minister said Sunday, as he renewed charges that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons, which the country has long denied.

"With regard to Iran, the mission is still not complete. Iran is trying to renew its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons -- alongside other grave efforts that place the State of Israel in real danger," Defense Minister Israel Katz said at a ceremony.


US Launches Task Force to Disrupt Land Transit Routes into Iran

A banner depicting US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Vice President JD Vance and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is displayed on a street in Tehran, Iran, November 4, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A banner depicting US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Vice President JD Vance and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is displayed on a street in Tehran, Iran, November 4, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
TT

US Launches Task Force to Disrupt Land Transit Routes into Iran

A banner depicting US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Vice President JD Vance and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is displayed on a street in Tehran, Iran, November 4, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A banner depicting US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Vice President JD Vance and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is displayed on a street in Tehran, Iran, November 4, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

The US military has announced it will create a 20-member task force to find ways to disrupt land routes into Iran that it says are used for shipments of weapons and illicit materials.

The restrictions would expand on a US naval blockade of Iranian ports during the two countries' eight-month war, in which Tehran has also restricted passage through the critical Strait of Hormuz trade route, choking global energy supplies, AFP said.

The task force's work "will further constrain Iran's ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories, and replenish their military," US Central Command chief Brad Cooper said in a statement posted on X on Saturday.

The team of both civilian and military personnel based in Florida would coordinate with US government agencies on "preventing the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials, and illegal revenue streams across Iran's land borders and the Caspian Sea," the statement added.

The United States imposed a blockade on Iranian ports early in the war in response to Tehran seeking to limit traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, where around a fifth of global oil trade normally passes.

That blockade has halted around $25 billion in crude oil exports from Iran, according to the US Central Command.


Thick Smoke at Tehran Refinery Caused by Safety Flaring, No Fire Reported

A man uses umbrella while walking under a rain around traditional main bazaar of Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)
A man uses umbrella while walking under a rain around traditional main bazaar of Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)
TT

Thick Smoke at Tehran Refinery Caused by Safety Flaring, No Fire Reported

A man uses umbrella while walking under a rain around traditional main bazaar of Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)
A man uses umbrella while walking under a rain around traditional main bazaar of Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)

Thick smoke and flames seen rising from Tehran's oil refinery on Sunday were caused by activation of its flare systems ‌after electrical ‌and technical problems, ‌the ⁠refinery's public relations ⁠office was reported as saying by the oil ministry's news outlet, Shana.

The ⁠refinery said the ‌systems ‌had been activated ‌to release excess ‌gases in accordance with industrial safety procedures.

It said no ‌fire had broken out in its ⁠processing ⁠units, the situation was under control and teams were working to restore normal operations.

Fuel production and supply continued without interruption, it added.