Iranian Australian Sahar Gholizadeh described the news of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei\u2019s death as a bittersweet but \u2018big moment\u2019. Photograph: Sahar Gholizadeh<\/p>\n
In Sydney and Melbourne, planned anti-regime rallies on Sunday became celebrations of the leader\u2019s death, with thousands attending.<\/p>\n
In Canberra, a few hundred people celebrated outside the now-closed Iranian embassy to cheer the death of the Ayatollah and praise Israeli and US leaders.<\/p>\n
Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n Champagne was sprayed over the dancing crowd, as people prayed for a liberated Iran and the safety of their families there.<\/p>\n In Melbourne, members of Australia\u2019s Iranian diaspora gathered in Federation Square and on the steps of parliament to celebrate after years of violence, most recently culminating in the regime\u2019s brutal crackdown on protests, with up to 30,000 people estimated to have been killed.<\/a><\/p>\n Iranian Australians react outside Iran\u2019s embassy in Canberra. Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAP<\/p>\n Suren Edgar, the vice president of the Australia Iranian Community Alliance (AICA), says hearing of Khamenei\u2019s death was the \u201cbest morning of my life\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHe destroyed our country, our culture, killed our people and pushed the ideology of terror to other countries,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Edgar, who migrated to Australia in 2014, says the community is hopeful after Israel and the US launched another attack on Iran after last year\u2019s 12-day war.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not easy to watch your country under that attack,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cMissiles don\u2019t understand who the enemy is and who are \u2026 ordinary people. So that\u2019s why we are worried about our people. But on the other hand, we see them, they are happy, extremely happy.\u201d<\/p>\n The US-based organisation <\/a>Human Rights Activists News Agency on Sunday reported at least 133 civilians had been killed, with 200 injured, in the first hours of the Israeli-US attack.<\/p>\n Edgar says internet disruptions mean people in Australia are awaiting news from loved ones in Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still waiting to hear from some \u2026 the psychological impact of silence can be as distressing as the crisis itself,\u201d he says. \u201cBeing unable to connect with loved ones online creates a unique kind of stress and helplessness.\u201d<\/p>\n Edgar says the diaspora community is celebrating Khamenei\u2019s death, but remains unsure if there will be desired regime change.<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as the Islamic Republic is in power, it\u2019s not done,\u201d he says on Sunday.<\/p>\n Kambiz Razmara, the vice-president of the Australian-Iranian Society of Victoria, says there\u2019s \u201cquiet anticipation\u201d in the Iranian Australian community.<\/p>\n \u201cYears of oppression are coming to a head, and so people see what\u2019s likely to come about, or what could possibly happen after, and they\u2019re choosing to celebrate that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Some in Australia fear retaliatory attacks by the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran.<\/p>\n Razmara says there is support for Reza Pahlavi<\/a> \u2013 the exiled son of Iran\u2019s former pro-western monarch.<\/p>\n But he says some community members would only accept him as a transitional leader. Others hope Pahlavi will eventually head a constitutional monarchy.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring \u2018woman, life, freedom\u2019 [protests], there was no identifiable leadership. Now there is, and there seems to be a much greater motivation for \u2026 change to come,\u201d Razmara says.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have, in Reza Pahlavi, someone who can propose and offer some kind of transitional arrangement to democratic rule.\u201d<\/p>\n Iranian Australian Mohammad Hashemi accepts there\u2019s uncertainty about what will happen in the coming weeks \u2013 but for now he is celebrating the death of the supreme leader.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just feel happy,\u201d the Sydney-based activist says. \u201cThis is one of the best [pieces of] news we\u2019ve ever been waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n Hashemi\u2019s cousin, Majid Kazemi, was executed in May 2023 after participating in a \u201cwoman, life, freedom\u201d<\/a> protest in which three members of the security forces died.<\/p>\n![\"Iran's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1841.jpg\")
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed, state media confirms \u2013 video<\/p>\n