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EU Says Khamenei’s Killing Brings Both Hope and Peril

EU High Representative and Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks to the press as she arrives for the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on February 23, 2026. (AFP)
EU High Representative and Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks to the press as she arrives for the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on February 23, 2026. (AFP)
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EU Says Khamenei’s Killing Brings Both Hope and Peril

EU High Representative and Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks to the press as she arrives for the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on February 23, 2026. (AFP)
EU High Representative and Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks to the press as she arrives for the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on February 23, 2026. (AFP)

Top EU officials said Sunday the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes could spell "hope" for the country -- but carried a serious risk of regional instability. 

European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas described Khamenei's death as "a defining moment in Iran's history", while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it spurred "renewed hope for the people of Iran". 

"At the same time, this moment carries a real risk of instability that could push the region into a spiral of violence," von der Leyen added. 

Von der Leyen said Brussels was engaging closely "with all key actors" to safeguard stability and security and to protect civilian lives. 

"With Khamenei gone, there is renewed hope for the people of Iran. We must ensure that the future is theirs to claim and shape," she wrote on social media, after a call with Jordan's King Abdullah II. 

Likewise, Kallas said she was in contact with regional partners "that bear the brunt of Iran's military actions" to find practical steps for de-escalation. 

"The death of Ali Khamenei is a defining moment in Iran's history. What comes next is uncertain. But there is now an open path to a different Iran, one that its people may have greater freedom to shape," Kallas wrote on X.

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World

Iranian Leaders Want to Talk, Says Trump

US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during an event at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, US, February 27, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during an event at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, US, February 27, 2026. (Reuters)
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Iranian Leaders Want to Talk, Says Trump

US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during an event at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, US, February 27, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during an event at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, US, February 27, 2026. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iran's new leadership wants to talk to him and that he has agreed, according to an interview with the Atlantic magazine.

"They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to ‌them. They ‌should have done it ‌sooner. ⁠They should have given what ⁠was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long," Trump said in the interview from his Florida residence.

Trump did not specify who he would be speaking with or say whether ⁠it would occur on Sunday ‌or Monday.

Iranian ‌President Masoud Pezeshkian said a leadership council composed of ‌himself, the judiciary head and a ‌member of the powerful Guardians Council had temporarily assumed the duties of supreme leader following the death of Ali Khamenei.

Trump said some ‌of the people who were involved in recent talks with the ⁠US are ⁠no longer alive.

"Most of those people are gone. Some of the people we were dealing with are gone, because that was a big - that was a big hit," he was quoted as saying in the interview with Atlantic staff writer Michael Scherer.

"They should have done it sooner, Michael. They could have made a deal. They should've done it sooner. They played too cute."

World

Iran Insists ‘No Limit’ Its Right to Self-Defense, Says FM

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations, aside of US-Iran talks in Geneva, Switzerland, February 17, 2026. (Reuters)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations, aside of US-Iran talks in Geneva, Switzerland, February 17, 2026. (Reuters)
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Iran Insists ‘No Limit’ Its Right to Self-Defense, Says FM

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations, aside of US-Iran talks in Geneva, Switzerland, February 17, 2026. (Reuters)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations, aside of US-Iran talks in Geneva, Switzerland, February 17, 2026. (Reuters)

A top Iranian official on Sunday rejected President Donald Trump's warning not to retaliate against massive US-Israel bombardments, saying there would be "no limit" to the country's self-defense.

"Nobody can tell us that you don't have any right to defend yourselves. We are defending ourselves whatever it takes, and we see no limit for ourselves to defend our people, to protect our people," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told ABC News.

"What the United States is doing is an act of aggression. What we are doing is the act of self-defense. There are huge differences between these two," he said.

World

Three US Military Members Killed in Iran Operation

Aircraft attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 sit on the flight deck of the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran, February 28, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)
Aircraft attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 sit on the flight deck of the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran, February 28, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)
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Three US Military Members Killed in Iran Operation

Aircraft attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 sit on the flight deck of the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran, February 28, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)
Aircraft attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 sit on the flight deck of the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran, February 28, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)

The US military Sunday said three service members have been killed and five seriously wounded in the operation against Iran -- the first casualties of any kind announced on the US side.

The United States launched massive bombardments against Iran and killed its supreme leader Saturday, with attacks ongoing Sunday.

"Three US service members have been killed in action and five are seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury. Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions -- and are in the process of being returned to duty," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

"Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing. The situation is fluid, so out of respect for the families, we will withhold additional information, including the identities of our fallen warriors, until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified."

US air and naval forces, together with Israeli forces, are heavily bombarding Iran and President Donald Trump has said the goal is to destroy the country's military capacity.

In response, Iran has fired missiles at targets in Israel and at US military facilities around the region.

Earlier Sunday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had successfully hit the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf with four ballistic missiles.

However, CENTCOM said the aircraft carrier "was not hit."

"The missiles launched didn't even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM's relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime," a statement said.