US President, Donald Trump has warned that Iran’s next supreme leader will struggle to remain in power without his approval, as Tehran prepares to announce a successor to the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Nine days after US-Israeli strikes killed Khamenei and pushed the Middle East into a wider conflict, Iran’s Assembly of Experts met privately and selected a new leader, according to members of the body.
The clerics did not reveal the name of the chosen successor but said the announcement would be made soon. Some insiders have suggested that Khamenei’s 56-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, could take over from his father.
Trump had earlier rejected the possibility of Mojtaba becoming Iran’s next leader, describing him as an unacceptable “lightweight.”
“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump said during an interview with ABC News, referring to Iran’s next leader. “If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long.”
However, Iran’s top diplomat insisted the decision belongs solely to Tehran and warned against foreign interference.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the choice of a new supreme leader is an internal matter for Iran and stressed that the country would not allow any outside power to interfere in its domestic affairs. Speaking during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, he also called on Trump to apologise to the people of the region for the escalating conflict.
Mojtaba Khamenei is widely viewed as a conservative figure, partly because of his close ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the ideological branch of the country’s military.
Israel’s military has also warned that any successor to Khamenei could become a target if the conflict continues.
Overnight, Israel carried out new operations that underlined its expanding reach in the war. Air strikes targeted fuel storage facilities in and around Tehran, while another attack struck a hotel in central Beirut believed to be hosting suspected Iranian commanders.
Warplanes hit five oil facilities around the Iranian capital, killing at least four people and sending thick smoke across the city, according to a state oil executive.
Tehran’s governor said fuel distribution in the capital had been temporarily disrupted, while residents reported a dark haze covering the city of about 10 million people.
Authorities warned that fumes from the fires could be toxic and advised residents to stay indoors as the smell of burning fuel lingered across parts of the city.
One Tehran resident said the fires had been burning for more than 12 hours, making the air difficult to breathe and forcing many people to remain inside their homes.
As the war entered its ninth day, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the country has enough supplies to continue drone and missile attacks across the region for up to six months.
Several explosions were also heard over Tel Aviv after the Israeli military detected a new wave of Iranian missiles. Emergency services reported that at least six people were injured in central Israel.
Trump again declined to rule out deploying US ground troops in Iran, though he insisted the war was close to being won despite ongoing missile and drone attacks.
The US president also held a phone conversation with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday to discuss military cooperation. Britain has allowed the United States to use its bases for what it described as collective self-defence operations in the region.
Meanwhile, an Iranian military spokesman said the country had so far used only first- and second-generation missiles but warned that more advanced long-range weapons could be deployed in the coming days.
