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An enormous explosion rocked Iran's capital Sunday as the Israeli military said it was targeting the heart of the city. Earlier, Iran fired missiles at targets in Israel and Gulf Arab states after vowing massive retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

The blast in Tehran sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky and shook the ground. The exact target wasn't immediately clear. The blast appeared centered in a neighborhood that is home to the country's police headquarters and Iranian state television. The Israeli military said it was striking targets in central Tehran.

Oman said an oil tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz came under attack, wounding four mariners on board. The attack targeted a Palau-flagged vessel called Skylight, the state-run Oman News Agency said. It described the crew as Indian and Iranian.

It wasn't clear who attacked the vessel. 

On Saturday, tankers passing through the key waterway bordering Iran reported receiving VHF transmissions from Iran's Revolutionary Guard saying "no ship is allowed to pass."

The strikes could rattle global markets, particularly if Iran makes the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. A third of worldwide oil exports transported by sea passed through the strait in 2025.

At least nine people were killed in clashes with police in Pakistan on Sunday after hundreds of protesters stormed the U.S. Consulate in the port city of Karachi, authorities said.

The violence came after the United States and Israel attacked Iran and killed the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Police and officials at a hospital in Karachi said at least eight people were also wounded in the clashes.

Police in Karachi said the protesters were later dispersed and the situation was under control.

Karachi is the capital of southern Sindh province.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the early hours of Saturday in his Tehran compound by a U.S.-Israeli attack.

Iranian state media reported that some of his family was killed, including his daughter and grandchild. The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and a top security adviser were also killed in the attack.

Iran is set to observe 40 days of mourning to honour the fallen leader.

Many are hoping his death could trigger regime change and a new beginning for Iran after Khamenei's 37-year reign.

Iran's cabinet and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard have promised to retaliate with continued strikes on Israel and U.S. Bases in the region.  

We are wrapping up our live coverage for tonight. We will continue to track what could be seismic change for Iran on cbcnews.ca.

Iranian successor most likely chosen already, says expert

Nader Hashemi, an associate professor of Middle East and Islamic politics at Georgetown University, says he doesn't believe the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Israeli-U.S. Missile strikes will lead to a regime change.

"I think symbolically it's very important that he is no longer in the political equation, but before anyone breaks out the champagne bottles and starts to celebrate, it's important to realize that the structure and nature of power in the Iranian political system is very different than what it was in Libya under Muammar Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein's Iraq," he said, referencing two instances where the death of a leader dramatically shifted a country's trajectory.

"Power in Iran is very institutionalized. It's dispersed. It doesn't mean that there's going to be a political opening just because Ali Khamenei is no longer at the helm of the Iranian state."

Behnam Arbabi, owner of Lotus House of Kebab, a Persian restaurant in Edmonton told me that he hopes this is the start of a better life for his mother and brother in Iran.

He also told me he recognizes that the U.S. Gets something from these strikes.

"No one in the United States wants to make a better deal for Iranian people only. It's a win-win game. It's better for the United States and it's better for the people as well," he told me.

He added, though, that he hopes positive change comes from the will of the Iranian people.

"It's not the United States' decision to make the change. Iranian people should be on the street to change the regime."

Ahead of a rally by members of the Iranian diaspora planned for Sunday afternoon in Edmonton, I spoke with Payman Parseyan, a past president of the Iranian Heritage Society of Edmonton.

He said the last messages from his family in Iran told him not to worry: "For us, this gives us hope."

We spoke about what this could mean for people who have lived under the Khamenei regime for decades.

"It's a very important moment in history right now," said Parseyan, at one point getting emotional. "I don't think people realize the ramifications for 1,000 years from today. We will feel the ramifications of what took place for the better."

Parseyan expressed gratitude to Trump and Netanyahu. His hope is that Iran's exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, will be part of the next steps to bring freedom to Iran.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said in a statement that Canada "strongly condemns the attacks of the Iranian regime against our partners in the Middle East."

Anand further urged Canadians in Iran to shelter in place and said Ottawa will "provide all possible support to Canadians throughout the region."

Canada currently has no diplomatic relations with Iran, nor does it have an embassy there.

There are more updates coming from Iranian state media suggesting who will lead the country in the wake of the supreme leader's death.

A council will form that includes Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, hard-line judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohsensi Ejei and a member of the Guardian Council. Iranian law says the country's Assembly of Experts "must, as soon as possible" pick a new supreme leader.

Khamenei's top advisor Ali Shamkhani and Revolutionary Guard commander Mohammed Pakpour have been killed, according to state media. 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government supports the U.S. And Israeli actions "to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

In a statement, Albanese said the Iranian regime has been a "destabilizing force" for decades, noting it relies on the repression and murder of its own people. 

He said his government has sanctioned more than 200 Iranian-linked people, including more than 100 linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

"Australia stands with the brave people of Iran in their struggle against oppression." 

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