Iraq and Kashmir Erupt in Protests as Khamenei Mourning Goes Global
Mass demonstrations erupted across Iraq, Indian-administered Kashmir, Istanbul, and European cities Sunday as grief and fury over Khamenei's killing spread across the Muslim world.
Protests Over Khamenei's Killing Spread Across Muslim World
The death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent shockwaves through Muslim communities across the globe on Sunday, igniting protests from Baghdad to Berlin, from Srinagar to Istanbul. Thousands took to the streets in a wave of demonstrations expressing grief, fury, and demands that the United States and Israel face accountability for the joint strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader.
In Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqis dressed in black gathered Sunday afternoon outside the heavily fortified US Embassy compound in the capital's Green Zone. Many chanted slogans associated with Iran-aligned paramilitary groups. Several dozen made attempts to breach the outer perimeter barriers before being pushed back by Iraqi security forces. No casualties were reported in Baghdad, but the US Embassy placed its staff on emergency lockdown protocols.
The scenes recalled the December 2019 attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad by Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces fighters following US airstrikes that killed IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. That crisis ended without major casualties. This time, with the killing reaching far higher — targeting the supreme leader himself — the emotional intensity is considerably greater.
Srinagar and Istanbul Join the Protests
In Indian-administered Kashmir, demonstrators burned US and Israeli flags in Srinagar's old city quarter. Indian security forces deployed in large numbers after intelligence warnings of planned demonstrations. The protests in Kashmir reflect the region's majority Muslim population's deep emotional ties to Islamic solidarity movements, even amid the complex geopolitics of Kashmir's contested status.
In Istanbul, an estimated 5,000 people marched toward the US Embassy in the Cankaya district on Sunday afternoon. Turkish riot police maintained order while protesters waved Iranian and Palestinian flags and chanted anti-American slogans. Several hundred also gathered outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, where police used water cannons to disperse a smaller crowd that attempted to approach the building.
According to Professor Vali Nasr, Dean Emeritus of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, "Khamenei occupied a unique symbolic role in the Muslim world that extended far beyond Iran's borders. His death will be experienced as a profound wound by communities from Lebanon to Pakistan, and those emotions will not dissipate quickly."
European Cities See Demonstrations
Smaller but significant protests took place Sunday in Paris, London, Berlin, and Amsterdam, where Iranian diaspora communities and broader Muslim solidarity groups organized rapid-response demonstrations. In London, several hundred protesters gathered outside the US Embassy in Nine Elms, waving black mourning flags and calling for international sanctions against Washington and Tel Aviv.
British police maintained a heavy presence but made no arrests. In Paris, demonstrators marched from the Place de la Republique toward the US Embassy on Avenue Gabriel. French authorities closed roads around the embassy as a precaution.
The breadth of the protests — spanning continents and cutting across nationality, ethnicity, and political affiliation — signals that the killing of Khamenei has generated a profound and durable emotional reaction in the Muslim world that will shape the political environment for governments from Islamabad to Jakarta for weeks and possibly months to come.
