A look at Iran's key political and religious figures

The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, and U.S. President Donald Trump called on the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the nation since 1979.

Israeli officials told The Associated Press that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died in the attack, along with other high-ranking military officials. Trump announced the death soon after on social media, saying “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country” had arrived with Khamenei's death.

Yet even if Iran’s top leaders were killed, regime change is not guaranteed.

Here is a look at Iran's top political and spiritual leaders.

In 1989, Khamenei became Iran's supreme leader after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khamenei played an important role in the movement that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the 1979 revolution.

The 86-year-old Khamenei is Iran's commander-in-chief, who has the final say on all policy and religious matters. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the force that safeguards the Islamic Republic, answers directly to him.

Khamenei has been in charge during previous crackdowns on protesters in Iran. He recently said Iran was ready to retaliate against any American attack.

One of the first strikes Saturday hit near Khamenei's offices. Two Israeli officials told AP he had died, speaking on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement and giving no further details. Trump then confirmed Khamenei's death in a post on Truth Social.

The president of Iran is broadly seen as a reformist. A former heart surgeon, Pezeshkian took office on July 28, 2024. The president is the second-highest ranking official in Iran, acting as the head of government that handles daily administration, economic policy and implements the Supreme Leader's decrees.

Iranians elect a president and parliament for four-year terms.

Iran's foreign minister is a longtime diplomat and was a key negotiator in the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal. He was appointed on Aug. 21, 2024.

Days before Saturday's attack, Araghchi warned that a conflict with the U.S. would be “a devastating war” and reiterated Tehran’s interest in a peaceful solution ahead of this week's high-stakes talks.

Larijani hails from one of Iran's most famous political families. A former parliamentary speaker and senior policy adviser, he was appointed to advise Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration.

In January, the U.S. imposed additional sanctions against Iranian officials, including Larijani, who were accused of repressing nationwide protests challenging Iran’s theocratic government.

The U.S. Treasury Department accused him of being one of the first officials to call for violence against Iranian protesters.

A conservative jurist and hard-line prosecutor, Mohseni Ejehi has been chief justice since 2021. He is widely regarded as a Khamenei loyalist.

Mohseni Ejehi was quoted by state media in January as saying that there would be “no leniency” for those behind the wave of unrest.

Movahedi Kermani is the head of the 88-seat clerical body responsible for appointing the next Supreme Leader. The Assembly of Experts is Iran's version of the Vatican's College of Cardinals.

Jannati is the de facto leader of Iran's Guardian Council, a 12-member body that vets candidates for office as well as legislation, and rules out individuals it believes are incompatible with Iran’s Islamic theocratic system. It consists of six Islamic theologians and six legal experts.

The council can disqualify presidential candidates who are perceived as not being aligned with the Supreme Leader.

Golpayegani is an Islamic cleric and longtime confidant of Khamenei. He heads the Supreme Leader's office.

A physician by training, Velayati was previously Iran's foreign minister, and is a top adviser to Khamenei on international affairs. He is involved in the country's nuclear policy.

Kharazi is a trusted adviser to Khamenei on foreign policy, especially during the recent nuclear talks with Washington.

A former diplomat and foreign minister, Kharazi previously represented Iran at the United Nations. He has held numerous governmental, diplomatic and academic posts.

Aref serves as one of the primary deputies to the president and leads cabinet meetings when the president is absent. He liaises between the president and parliament.

A former mayor of Tehran and Revolutionary Guard general, Ghalibaf was reelected parliamentary speaker on May 27, 2025. He is a conservative politician who was linked to student crackdowns in 1999 and 2003.

Khatami belongs to Iran's 12-member Guardian Council and is an influential prayer leader and religious figure loyal to the Supreme Leader. He is a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts and has long been known for his hard-line views.

In January, Khatami called for the death penalty for protesters detained in a nationwide crackdown, and described those taking part in the unrest as “butlers” of Netanyahu and “Trump’s soldiers.”

Khamenei's second-eldest son is a midranking cleric and the Supreme Leader's rumored successor. He has close ties with Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Mojtaba served in the armed forces during the Iran-Iraq war, and is said to wield influence behind the scenes as his father's gatekeeper.

Nasirzadeh became defense minister in 2024 after serving in leadership roles in Iran's army and air force and was among the Iranian ministers who threatened retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases in the Middle East, including before last June's U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Israel said on Saturday that he was killed in the war's opening strikes that hit locations where military leaders were gathered. __

Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed.

FILE - This combo of file photos show Iran's key political and religious figures, top row, from left, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Khamenei Adviser on Public Policy Ali Larijani, Chief Justice Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, Head of Assembly Experts Mohammad-Ali Movahedi Kermani and Secretary of Guardian Council Ahmad Jannati, bottom row, from left, Khamenei's Chief of Staff Mohammad Golpayegani, Khamenei Adviser on International Affairs Ali Akbar Velayati, Khamenei Adviser on Foreign Policy Kamal Kharazi, First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Tehran Friday Prayer Imam Ahmad Khatami and Son of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. (AP Photo/File)

LONDON (AP) — America and Israel's attack on Iran disrupted flights across the Middle East and beyond Saturday as countries around the region closed their airspace and three of the key airports that connect Europe, Africa and the West to Asia halted operations.

Hundreds of thousands of travelers were either stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace. There also was no flight activity over the United Arab Emirates, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said, after the government there announced a “temporary and partial closure” of its airspace.

That led to the closure of key hub airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, and the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights by major Middle Eastern airlines. The three major airlines that operate at those airports — Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad — typically have about 90,000 passengers per day crossing through those hubs and even more travelers headed to destinations in the Middle East, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Dubai International Airport is the world’s busiest airport for international flights.

“For travelers, there’s no way to sugarcoat this,” said Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group. “You should prepare for delays or cancellations for the next few days as these attacks evolve and hopefully end.”

Airlines that are crossing the Middle East will have to reroute flights around the conflict with many flights headed south over Saudi Arabia. That will add hours to those flights and consume additional fuel, adding to the costs airlines will have to absorb. So ticket prices could quickly start to increase if the conflict lingers.

The added flights will also put pressure on air traffic controllers in Saudi Arabia who might have to slow traffic to make sure they can handle it safely. And the countries that closed their airspace will miss out on the overflight fees airlines pay for crossing overhead.

But Mike McCormick, who used to oversee air traffic control for the Federal Aviation Administration before he retired and is now a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said over the next few days these countries might be able to reopen parts of their airspace once American and Israeli officials share with the airlines where military flights are operating and how capable Iran remains at firing missiles.

“Those countries then will be able to go through and say, okay, we can reopen this portion of our space but we’ll keep this portion of our airspace closed,” McCormick said. “So I think what we’ll see in the next 24 to 36 hours how the use of airspace evolves as the kinetic activity gets more well defined and as the capability of Iran to actually shoot missiles and create additional risk is diminished due to the attacks.”

But it is unclear how long the disruption to flight operations could last. For comparison, the Israeli and U.S. attack on Iran in June 2025 lasted 12 days.

The situation was changing quickly and airlines urged passengers to check their flight status online before heading to the airport.

Some airlines issued waivers to affected travelers that will allow them to rebook their flight plans without paying extra fees or higher fares.

Jonathan Escott and his fiance had arrived at the airport in Newcastle, England, on Saturday only to find out that his direct flight to Dubai on Emirates airline was canceled, leaving everyone on the flight stuck there.

Escott left to go back to where he was staying with family, about an hour from the airport, but has no idea when he may be able to travel.

“No one knows,” Escott said. “No one really knows what’s going on with the conflict, really. Not Emirates, Emirates don’t have a clue. No one has a clue.”

At least 145 planes that were en route to cities like Tel Aviv and Dubai early Saturday were diverted to airports in cities like Athens, Istanbul or Rome, according to FlightAware. Others turned around and returned to where they took off from. One plane spent nearly 15 hours in the air after leaving Philadelphia and getting all the way to Spain before turning around and returning to where it started.

Numerous airlines canceled international flights to Dubai through the weekend, as India’s civil aviation agency designated much of the Middle East — including skies above Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon — as a high-security risk zone at all altitudes.

Air India canceled all flights to Mideast destinations. Turkish Airlines said flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan were suspended until Monday and flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman were suspended.

The airline said additional cancellations may be announced, and many other airlines were suspending flights into the region through the weekend.

U.S.-based Delta Air Lines and United Airlines suspended flights to Tel Aviv at least through the weekend. Dutch airline KLM had already announced earlier in the week that it was suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv.

Airlines including Lufthansa, Air France, Transavia and Pegasus canceled all flights to Lebanon, while American Airlines suspended flights from Philadelphia to Doha.

Virgin Atlantic said it would avoid flying over Iraq, meaning flights to and from India, the Maldives and Riyadh could take slightly longer. The airline already was not flying over Iran and said all flights would carry appropriate fuel in case they need to reroute on short notice.

British Airways said flights to Tel Aviv and Bahrain will be suspended until next week, and flights to Amman, Jordan, were canceled Saturday.

“Travelers should anticipate that there will be a lot of disruptions,” Harteveldt said. “To be honest, if you haven’t left home, chances are you won’t be leaving home if you’re supposed to travel to or through these destinations for at least several days, if not longer. And if you are returning home, you will have to be very creative about how you get home.”

Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writer Adam Schreck contributed from Bangkok

FILE -Workers load medical aid onto an Air India plane to be flown to India, at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, May 4, 2021. (Menahem Kahana/Pool Photo via AP, File)