The next supreme leader of Iran “is not going to last long” says US President Donald Trump. Source ABC News. “If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long.”
His comments came as the Iranian clerical body responsible for choosing the successor to slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei was reported to have voted and would soon announce a name.
IRGC warns of retaliation during US-Israel attacks on energy infrastructure. A spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it will retaliate if US-Israeli attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure don’t let up.
In a statement carried by Iranian state media, the unnamed spokesperson accused the US and Israel of targeting civilians and fuel and energy facilities and claimed the IRGC has “refrained from any similar action”.
Gulf countries should tell the US and Israel to stop, the spokesperson added, or else “similar actions will be taken in the region.” “If you can tolerate oil at more than $200 per barrel, continue this game.”
Earlier, we reported that two people had been killed and 12 wounded in a strike on central Saudi Arabia. Those killed were of Indian and Bangladeshi nationalities, the civil defence agency said in a post on X.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said earlier that it targeted radar systems in locations that included Saudi’s al-Kharj, where the deaths were reported. Iran began hitting targets in Israel as well as US military assets in Gulf states after the initial US-Israeli strikes on February 28 and the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The US embassy in Saudi Arabia and US consulate in the United Arab Emirates came under drone attacks on Tuesday.
The current situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the widening scope of the conflict could trigger multiple simultaneous crises, Iraq’s foreign minister warns.
Fuad Hussein told his Arab League counterparts the critical waterway’s closure has a “direct impact on the interests of Iraq, the region and the world”.
Other repercussions could include “crises in energy supplies and prices, widespread armed chaos in the region, and mass displacement or migration”, he added.
Iraq’s oil production from its main fields has plummeted by about 70 percent in recent days as it remains unable to export crude through the strait.
Iranian state media are reporting that explosions have been heard in the city of Qom. According to the semiofficial Tasnim news agency, the attacks targeted two areas of Qom, a major centre of religious scholarship.
In a statement, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted the Misgav base, which it described as a logistics base, at 1:35pm local time (11:35 GMT) today. It remains unclear if there were any casualties. The group said the attack came after what it described as Israeli strikes on dozens of Lebanese towns and cities, including Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The Israeli military has pummeled Lebanon with more than 100 aerial strikes over the past day. In a statement summarising today’s attacks, the Israeli army said it hit Hezbollah weapons storage facilities, “dozens” of military sites, a command centre and training compound. One attack in the eastern Bekaa Valley area killed Mustafa Ahmad al-Zein, who the army claimed was a Hezbollah operative.
The United States says Israeli strikes in Iran have targeted local fuel depots, adding that Washington does not plan to target Iran’s energy industry, including its oil and gas sector. Speaking to CNN on Sunday, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the sites hit were “Israeli strikes” on “local fuel depots to fill up the gas tank”, referring to attacks on oil storage facilities in and around Tehran that triggered large fires on Saturday.
He added that Washington is targeting “zero energy infrastructure” and has no plans to strike Iran’s oil or natural gas industry.
The war has severely disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil usually passes.
PT/ra
