Putin Breaks Silence on Khamenei’s Killing, Warning of a Global Legal Collapse After US-Israeli Strikes

Putin Breaks Silence on Khamenei’s Killing, Warning of a Global Legal Collapse After US-Israeli Strikes

2 min readUpdated: Mar 1, 2026 05:18 PM IST

In his first official comment on the US-Israeli coordinated strikes in Iran, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the targeted killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a “cynical murder,” Russian state media agency TASS reported.

Putin said Khamenei’s killing violated “all norms of human morality and international law.”

Yesterday, the Russian foreign ministry condemned the strikes, calling it “a preplanned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent U.N. member state.”

Ayatollah Arafi, a close associate of Khamenei, has been named to lead Iran temporarily. A seasoned cleric, Arafi currently serves as deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts, the body that appoints the Supreme Leader.

Why is Iran important to Moscow?

Moscow and Tehran have been allies for a long time, and have elevated their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2025.

Their relations encompass trade, military cooperation and intelligence sharing.

During Russia’s war in Ukraine, Iran provided crucial military support, supplying Moscow with Shahed drones — a series of economical ‘suicide drones’ with a range of up to 2,000 km. Tehran also helped Russia build a manufacturing facility to produce these drones.

Being a part of the International North-South Transport Corridor, Iran also provides Moscow essential transits for its goods through its Bandar Abbas and Chabahar ports.

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This helps Russia circumvent the risks of trading through the Mediterranean and Baltic regions amid the war with Ukraine and heightened tensions with Europe.

In 2025, the countries signed the Iranian–Russian Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

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