Hundreds of Iranian nationals gathered in the centre of The Hague and on the Dam in Amsterdam at the weekend to celebrate the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in attacks by US and Israeli forces.

“We’re not happy about war, of course, but this is the only option,” activist Nastaran Beik Pourian told the AD in The Hague. “We need other countries.”

In Amsterdam, some opened bottles of champagne and distributed sweets to the hundreds who had gathered. Many were carrying the Persian flag bearing the ancient Lion and Sun symbol, which the Islamic Republic removed after the 1979 Revolution.

“The Islamic regime in Tehran has declared 40 days of national mourning. But what I see inside the country, and also among the Persian diaspora here, feels more like 40 days of national celebration,” Pejman Akbarzadeh, director of the Persian Dutch Network, told Dutch News.

“It is like fighting a cancerous tumour for years with no result, and then suddenly someone tells you it is gone. It is hard to believe — but hopefully this is the beginning of freedom for our people and our beloved homeland.”

Many people in the Amsterdam crowd held photos of Reza Pahlavi, the former crown prince, who is now considered by some to be the most prominent opposition leader.

“It may sound strange that we are celebrating the killing of our dictator by the United States and Israel during this war, but the fact is that he was responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in Iran,” said Farzad, an engineer living in Amsterdam.

Internet access in Iran has been largely cut off since Saturday morning, with a near-total national blackout leaving most Iranians unable to contact friends and relatives abroad or access online services.

KLM, meanwhile, has scrapped all flights to and from Tel Aviv, Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam until at least Thursday, stranding hundreds of passengers. Safety is paramount, the airline said.