Iran Names New Supreme Leader Amid Ongoing War with US and Israel
Iran has named as the country’s new supreme leader, following the death of his father . The war has now entered its tenth day. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was selected by a committee of senior Shiite clerics after his father was killed in an airstrike during the opening phase of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.For more than three decades, Ali Khamenei had been Iran’s most powerful figure, serving as the country’s top religious and political authority. The International Energy Agency called for a coordinated release of emergency oil reserves during online meeting with the finance ministers from the Group of Seven nations on Monday, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told a briefing. "IEA called for each country to do coordinated release of oil reserves," Katayama said, as the ministers gathered online to discuss the impact of war in Iran on the markets which saw oil prices surging to more than $119 a barrel on Monday. Doha’s Defence Ministry says it shot down 17 ballistic missile and six unmanned aerial vehicles launched towards Qatar from Iran. The interceptions resulted in no causalities during the midday strikes, it said in a statement. France President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said that “When Cyprus is attacked, Europe is attacked” amid Iran’s strikes in the region hitting several Gulf countries. Hezbollah has congratulated Ayatollah Sayyid Mojtaba Khamenei on his election as the third supreme leader of Iran, following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In a statement, Hezbollah praised Iran’s Assembly of Experts for what it described as the swift election of a new leader despite the ongoing attack by the United States and Israel. France will send two frigates as part of the European Union’s naval mission Aspides in the Red Sea, French President Emmanuel Macron says. “We are in the process of setting up a purely defensive, purely escort mission, which must be prepared together with both European and non-European states,” Macron said after meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Cyprus. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that world is “going to be a safer and a better place when this mission is accomplished”. Speaking during an event in Washington DC on Monday, Rubio said America is targeting “the world’s largest hostage taker, the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism – the regime in Iran”. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed concern about increasing energy prices as a result of the war. “We are concerned about the development of energy prices,” Merz told a news conference. “We know that this could potentially have an impact on the German economy,” he said. Last week, Merz voiced support for the US-Israeli war on Iran during a visit to the White House but said he hopes it ends soon because the attack is hurting the global economy. In a brief statement, Qatari Ministry of Defence said the country’s armed forces had intercepted a missile attack, according to Al Jazeera. People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday visited the Iranian Cultural Centre and embassy in New Delhi to offer her condolences following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei in strikes by the US and Israel. Turkiye’s Defence Ministry has warned it will take “all necessary measures” against any threat posed to its territory, after it said a ballistic missile fired from Iran was intercepted upon entering its airspace. “Turkiye places great importance on good neighbourly relations and regional stability,” said the Defence Ministry. “However, we once again emphasise that all necessary measures will be taken decisively and without hesitation against any threat directed at our country’s territory and airspace.” Iran’s Mehr news agency is reporting that three people were injured in Isfahan and two are still trapped under the rubble. The attack targeted the Isfahan governorate building, it added. The NATO intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Iran toward Turkey on Monday, according to a statement by the Turkish Defence Ministry. The interception follows a similar event on March 4, after which NATO said it strengthened its missile-defence posture in the region. Debris from the munition landed in Gaziantep province in southern Turkey, approximately 150 kilometres from the Incirlik Air Base, where hundreds of US military personnel are stationed and where US nuclear weapons are widely believed to be stored. The Qatari Ministry of Interior has urged residents to stay indoors due to an elevated security threat. Thousands of people gathered in Tehran Square on Monday to pledge allegiance to the new Iranian leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, AFP reported. Iran named Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of the country's late supreme leader, the Islamic Republic’s next ruler on Monday. The UN agency for children, UNICEF, says at least 83 children have been killed and 254 injured in Lebanon since March 2 as the war between Israel and Hezbollah intensified. “On average, more than 10 children have been killed every day across Lebanon over the past week, with approximately 36 children injured each day,” the statement published on the UNICEF website said on Monday. “In the last 28 months, 329 children have reportedly been killed in Lebanon and 1,632 were injured,” it added. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the US-Israeli attacks on the country have put all international laws at risk. “They have violated all international norms and practices,” he said. French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Cyprus on Monday to discuss regional security, as France deployed warships to the Mediterranean and the US-Israeli war against Iran stretched into a second week. Macron, who landed in Paphos earlier Monday, met Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for talks. Continuing his remarks, the Iranian Foreign Ministry accused the US of seeking to take control of Iran’s oil resources. “Their design is clear, their enterprise is quite obvious – they aim at partitioning our country to take illegal possession of our oil riches,” he said. “Their objective is to violate our sovereignty, defeat our people and undermine our humanity.” IndiGo said one of its international flights was forced to return to its origin due to sudden airspace restrictions amid the evolving security situation in West Asia. In a press statement on Monday, the airline said flight 6E 033 operating from Delhi to Manchester had to turn back at the last minute after authorities imposed restrictions in the region. IndiGo added that some flights may take longer routes or face diversions due to the developments. The airline said it is coordinating with relevant authorities to explore options to resume the journey, stressing that the safety and security of passengers, crew, and aircraft remain its top priority. The United States and Iran have offered sharply different accounts of the sinking of an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean last week, with Washington rejecting Tehran's claim the vessel was unarmed and Iranian officials insisting it was operating in a noncombat role. The United States Indo-Pacific Command on Sunday rejected Iran's claim that the warship IRIS Dena was unarmed when it was sunk in a submarine attack in international waters off Sri Lanka on March 4. In a statement on X, INDOPACOM called Iran's assertion that the vessel was unarmed "false." Iran on Monday accused European countries including France of creating the conditions that led to the United States and Israel attacking the Islamic republic and triggering a war. "European countries have unfortunately helped create these conditions," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly press briefing. Here are some key highlights from his speech - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says his government is talking to international partners about what can be done to reduce the economic impact of the Iranian crisis on people and businesses. “The job of government is obviously to get ahead, look around the corner, to work with others,” Starmer said at an event in London, adding that the government was “talking to our international partners, as well, about what more we can do together to reduce the likely impact on people here”. The Israeli strikes on Iranian oil depots, which created doomsday scenes in Tehran, have seemingly led to a disagreement between the US and Tel Aviv. While officials in Washington and Tel Aviv maintain that the IDF notified the US military ahead of the strikes, a US official quoted by Axios said the US military was surprised by the strikes' scope. According to an Israeli official quoted in the report, the US message to Israel was "WTF". The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman says “we are doing our best to maintain the security and provide the necessary protection to all” diplomatic missions in the country, over 100 of which he says still remain. “However, the belligerent parties have crossed all red lines,” he added. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday affirmed his “unwaivering support” for Tehran and said that it stands in “solidarity with our Iranian friends.” Russian President Vladimir Putin also congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his appointment as Iran's new leader, the Kremlin said on Monday. Earlier, Russia had said it is not neutral in this matter. Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday said the Israeli military unlawfully fired white phosphorus munitions in the town of Yohmor in southern Lebanon. The international NGO said its researchers made this determination after verifying and geolocating seven images showing airburst white phosphorus munitions deployed over a residential part of the town on 03 March. White phosphorus is highly toxic, creating clouds of phosphorus pentoxide that then react with the moisture in the air – or in people’s lungs – to form phosphoric acid. It reacts violently with oxygen, meaning it can ignite and set fire to certain targets once released. In an interview with Times of Israel, US President Donald Trump said the decision to end the war with Iran will be taken mutually with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One person has been killed and another is critically injured in Yehud area in central Israel as Iran fired fresh missiles on Monday. Israel's death toll from the war has now risen to 11, Al Jazeera reported. Asked about possible mediation efforts for a ceasefire, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said discussions of such a topic are “irrelevant” for the time being. “As we speak, military confrontations are still under way,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson told the news briefing in Tehran. “At this particular point, speaking of any matter other than defending our homeland is irrelevant.” “We did not initiate or start this war,” he added. “It is not a war of choice. It is a war of necessity that was imposed on us.”
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