Iran has fired missiles towards Israel and several Gulf nations, after the Islamic republic named Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader, succeeding his late father despite warnings from the United States and Israel that he could become their next target.
Nine days after US-Israeli strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and pushed the Middle East into a widening war, Iranian clerics selected only the third supreme leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iranian state television announced Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment on Monday with a statement from the 88-member Assembly of Experts beside a portrait of the new 56-year-old leader.
Khamenei “is appointed and introduced as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the decisive vote of the respected representatives of the Assembly of Experts”, the statement said.
The clerical body said it “did not hesitate for a minute” in choosing a successor despite what it described as “the brutal aggression of the criminal America and the evil Zionist regime”.
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Regional and international reaction
Israel responded with a fresh wave of strikes targeting infrastructure in central Iran as the expanding conflict rattled global markets. Stocks dropped sharply while crude prices surged about 30 percent amid fears of disruption to oil supplies.
Across the Gulf, tensions spread quickly. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted drones headed for an eastern oil field, while the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait reported missile attacks. Bahrain activated air raid sirens after incoming threats were detected.
Iran's state media later broadcast images of a projectile reportedly launched towards Israel bearing the slogan “At Your Command, Sayyid Mojtaba”.
Analysts widely expect Mojtaba Khamenei – considered a hardliner like his father – to maintain Tehran’s uncompromising stance towards dissent.
US President Donald Trump had previously dismissed him as a “lightweight” and suggested Washington should influence the succession process.
“If he doesn't get approval from us he's not going to last long,” Trump told ABC News before the appointment was announced.
Israel’s defence minister has warned the new supreme leader could become “a target”, while the Israeli military has pledged to pursue any successor.
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Oil price spikes
As Iran retaliates against its oil-rich Gulf Arab neighbours, the benchmark price of crude rose above $100 per barrel for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago.
Trump downplayed the surge, calling it a “small price to pay” for eliminating what he described as the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear programme.
Markets across Asia fell sharply on Monday, with energy-dependent economies such as Japan and South Korea particularly affected by the prospect of prolonged disruption to global supplies.
In a sign Washington expects a drawn-out conflict, the US State Department ordered non-emergency personnel to leave Saudi Arabia, days after a drone strike hit the US embassy.
Trump also said any decision on when to end the war would be taken jointly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I think it's mutual… a little bit. We've been talking. I'll make a decision at the right time, but everything's going to be taken into account,” he told the Times of Israel.
Few observers expect major policy shifts under Mojtaba Khamenei, a cleric with close ties to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which quickly pledged loyalty to the new leader.
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‘Fierce clashes’
The multi-front conflict also intensified further in Lebanon on Monday.
Iran-backed Hezbollah said its fighters were battling Israeli forces who landed in eastern Lebanon after arriving in around 15 helicopters across the Syrian border.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported “fierce clashes” around the town of Nabi Sheet, where an Israeli operation over the weekend killed 41 people.
Israel also struck a hotel in central Beirut on Sunday targeting five commanders of the Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force during a meeting.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the strike killed four people and injured 10 others.
Across the region, the human toll continues to climb. Lebanon says Israeli strikes have killed at least 394 people since the war began.
In Bahrain, authorities reported 32 people wounded in an overnight Iranian drone attack on the island of Sitra.
Saudi Arabia said two people were killed and 12 wounded after a projectile landed in Al-Kharj province.
Iran says at least 1,200 civilians have been killed and around 10,000 wounded in the conflict, figures that could not be independently verified.
In Israel, Iranian missile strikes have killed 10 people, according to officials, while two Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in Lebanon.
(with newswires)
