Alex Ritson

The Israeli military named seven senior Iranian defence officials among the dead.

The Iranian president, Massoud Peseshgian, said the killing of the Ayatollah was a declaration of war against Muslims and said it was Iran's legitimate duty to avenge him.

Our Middle East analyst, Sebastian Usher, told me just how significant a moment this is.

Gauging the mood in Iran is difficult during these extraordinary times in the history of the Islamic Republic.

The country is under an almost total internet blackout and few Western journalists are allowed into Iran.

But we are seeing reports of casualties in the country.

The Iranian Red Crescent says more than 200 people have been killed and more than 700 injured in airstrikes.

State media has reported that strikes killed at least 148 people at a school in southern Iran, including children.

parents and teachers.

The U.S.

military says it's looking into these reports, while the IDF of Israel says it was not aware of any operations in the area.

It is clear in Iran, though, that the assassination of the supreme leader has convulsed the country in a way millions of Iranians have never felt before.

BBC Persian is monitoring developments, and Kazra Nagy told me more about the public reaction.

Will this bring Iranians closer together or divide them further?

We heard Seb there talking about this three-person council who will run the country until a new leader is chosen.

But can you choose a new supreme leader when the country is under attack like this?

Qasra Najee from BBC Persian.

So how long will the US and Israeli strikes go on in Iran?

And do both nations have a long-term plan for the future of Iran?

Jonathan Conricus is the former international spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces, or IDF, and now a senior fellow at the Washington think tank, the Foundation for Defence of Democracies.