Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader for 36 years, has died, triggering sharply divided public reactions across the country. In Tehran's squares, crowds gathered to mourn, chanting and carrying placards bearing his image, while elsewhere in the city and in other urban centers, separate groups celebrated openly — honking car horns, setting off fireworks, and dancing in the streets.

For many Iranians who experienced or witnessed the Islamic Republic's violent crackdown on nationwide protests, the news brought relief and jubilation. Nazanin, a 24-year-old media professional in Tehran, said she wept on her balcony as neighbors celebrated in the streets, invoking the names of Mahsa Amini, Nika Shakarami, and Sarina Esmailzadeh — three women killed during the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom protests who became symbols of dissent. Mina, a 20-year-old university student in Tehran who was injured when security forces opened fire on protesters in January, said Khamenei's death fulfilled a wish for justice she had carried since watching fellow demonstrators fall around her.

The dual reactions reflect deep divisions in Iranian society following years of political repression and, most recently, a January crackdown in which security forces fired on protesters. According to the U.S.-based human rights organization HRANA, more than 7,000 people have been confirmed killed in demonstrations against the regime, with an additional 11,000 deaths still under investigation; tens of thousands more were arrested or injured. A physician in the northern city of Rasht, who said he spent January treating hundreds of protesters with gunshot wounds to the head, chest, and genitals, described quietly celebrating the news while remaining wary of what follows.

The scope of the public response was notable even in cities closely associated with the regime. In Mashhad, Khamenei's hometown and one of Iran's most religiously conservative cities, groups of students were reported gathering. In Arak, residents described people immediately filling public squares and sharing tea with strangers upon hearing the news, even as armed security forces remained visible in public spaces.

Khamenei's death ends a tenure that began in 1989 and shaped the Islamic Republic through multiple periods of internal unrest and international confrontation. The question of succession and the future direction of the Iranian state now moves to the forefront, with significant implications for the country's domestic politics, its nuclear program, and its relationships with regional and global powers.