Congress condemns Khamenei’s killing, calls targeted use of force ‘disturbing’

The Indian National Congress on Sunday, March 1, condemned the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stating that the use of force to destabilise a leadership was disturbing.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge released a statement extending deepest condolences to the Supreme Leader’s family and people of Iran. “To the Supreme Leader’s family, to the people of Iran, and the Shia community around the world, we stand in solidarity with them as they navigate this grave crisis,” his statement read.

The Congress flagged the recent trend of capturing a country with the use of force as disturbing. “The targeted use of force to destabilise the leadership and governing structures of a sovereign state, whether in Iran or earlier in Venezuela, signals a disturbing revival of regime-change doctrines and coercive unilateralism,” the message said.

“A targeted killing of a sitting head of state strikes at the heart of these international rules. Sovereignty is not conditional, and political legitimacy cannot be manufactured through force,” the statement read.

“The INC reiterates that it is the inalienable right of every nation’s citizens to determine their own political future. No external power has the authority to engineer regime change or dictate the leadership of another state. Such actions amount to imperialism and are fundamentally incompatible with a genuinely rules- based international order,” the statement read.

Khamenei was killed in a major attack by Israel and the US. State media reported that the 86-year-old was killed in an air strike targeting his compound in downtown Tehran.

The US and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, with Trump calling on the Iranian public to seize control of their destiny and rise up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled their country since 1979.