Iran was preparing to announce a successor to slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday, after US-backed Israeli strikes destroyed fuel depots in Tehran, igniting fires that shrouded the city in thick, acrid smoke.
Nine days after the US-Israeli strikes on his compound killed Khamenei and pushed the Middle East into war, Iran’s Assembly of Experts convened privately and selected the country’s next leader, according to members of the body.
The clerics did not disclose the chosen individual, only indicating that an announcement would be made soon. Some observers suggested that Khamenei’s 56-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, could succeed his father.
US President Donald Trump had insisted on having a say in the appointment, while Israel’s military cautioned any successor that “we will not hesitate to target you”.
However, Tehran’s chief diplomat said on Sunday that the choice rested solely with Iran, stressing that the country would “allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs”.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press”, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also demanded that Trump “apologise to people of the region and the Iranian people for the killings and destruction”.
The younger Khamenei is widely regarded as a conservative figure, largely because of his close connections with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ideological arm of the Islamic Republic’s armed forces.
Air ‘unbreathable’
Israel demonstrated the reach of its operations overnight through two fresh attacks — strikes on fuel depots in and around Tehran and an assault on a hotel in central Beirut that reportedly targeted suspected Iranian commanders.
Warplanes struck five oil facilities in and around the Iranian capital, killing at least four people, according to a state oil executive.
Tehran’s governor told the Islamic Republic News Agency that fuel distribution in the capital had been “temporarily interrupted”.
A dark haze settled over the city of roughly 10 million residents, blocking out sunlight as the smell of burning fuel lingered in the air.
Authorities warned that the fumes could be toxic and urged residents to remain indoors, although many windows were shattered by the force of the explosions.
“The blaze has been burning for more than 12 hours, the air has become unbreathable. I can’t even go out to do the daily shopping,” said a 35-year-old resident of Tehran.
“At first, I supported this war. After Khamenei’s death, I celebrated with my friends: we drank wine and we danced.
“But since yesterday… people say there’s not even any gasoline left at the gas stations,” she said in a text message to Europe.
As the conflict entered its ninth day, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it possessed sufficient supplies to sustain its drone and missile campaign across the Middle East for up to six months.
Several explosions were heard above the Israeli commercial hub of Tel Aviv after the Israeli military reported detecting a volley of missiles launched from Iran. Emergency service Magen David Adom said six people were injured in central Israel.
Advanced missiles
Trump again declined to rule out deploying American ground troops to Iran but continued to argue that the war was effectively nearing victory despite ongoing Iranian missile and drone attacks.
Revolutionary Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini stated that Iran had so far used only first- and second-generation missiles but would deploy “advanced and less-used long-range missiles” in the coming days.
Saudi Arabia intercepted a wave of drones heading towards targets including the diplomatic district of its capital, Riyadh. Kuwait reported that an attack struck fuel tanks at its international airport, while Bahrain said a water desalination plant had been damaged.
Iran’s health ministry said on Sunday that at least 1,200 civilians had been killed and about 10,000 injured — figures that AFP could not independently verify.
Lebanon’s health minister reported that at least 394 people had died in Israeli air strikes since the country was drawn into the conflict a week ago, including 83 children and 42 women.
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting in southern Lebanon, the military said.
Meanwhile, Trump attended the return of the bodies of six American service members killed in a drone strike on a US base in Kuwait last Sunday.
No clear way out
Analysts warn there remains no clear route to ending the conflict, which US and Israeli officials say could last a month or longer.
Trump has suggested that Iran’s economy could be rebuilt if a leader “acceptable” to Washington replaces the late supreme leader.
Despite their close ties with Tehran, China and Russia have largely remained on the sidelines.
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said the war in the Middle East should “never have happened”, telling a press conference in Beijing: “The world cannot return to the law of the jungle.”
On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV prayed “that the roar of the bombs may cease, the weapons may fall silent, and a space for dialogue may open”.