IRAN’S NEW LEADER LAUNCHES FIRST ATTACK ON ISRAEL
Iran has fired its first barrage of missiles at Israel since Mojtaba Khamenei was confirmed as the country’s new supreme leader.
Two waves of missiles were launched ten minutes apart with sirens ringing out in Tel Aviv and the northern city of Haifa as Israelis took shelter.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said at this stage it was treating one woman in a moderate condition for a head injury.
The latest barrage comes after several missiles were fired towards Israel on Sunday leaving seven people injured.
Mr Khamenei, 56, a mid-ranking hardliner, was elected by clerics despite lacking the senior religious credentials typically required.
His appointment signals a willingness to continue the war with the US and is likely to anger Donald Trump.
The new supreme leader was elected by informal consultations among 88 clerics of the assembly of experts over nine days.
Members said Israeli and US air strikes had prevented them convening an in-person session to formalise the choice in official minutes.
Today’s top stories
Thank you for joining our coverage of the war in Iran. You can follow the latest news in Monday’s live blog.
Here are today’s top stories.
- Iran has chosen the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the country’s next supreme leader
- Donald Trump claimed surging oil prices were “a small price to pay” for the eradication of Iran’s nuclear programme as the price of crude blew through $100 for the first time in four year
- A British aircraft carrier may need to be escorted by a French warship if it is deployed to the Middle East
- The Prime Minister of Qatar has described the attacks by Iran on Gulf states as a “betrayal” and a “dangerous miscalculation”
- Emmanuel Macron will visit Cyprus on Monday, pushing France to the front of Europe’s military response to the Iran conflict
- Sir Keir Starmer has spoken to Donald Trump for the first time since the US president criticised him for not supporting strikes on Iran
Read more: Trump claims ‘a small price to pay’ as oil rockets through $100
Chants of ‘death to Mojtaba’ heard in Tehran
Chants hostile to Iran’s new supreme leader were heard in Tehran shortly after his appointment, according to a video posted on social media,
In the 17-second clip, filmed at night from a building window, women’s voices can be heard shouting “Death to Mojtaba” in Persian, while religious chants can be heard in the distance.
Explosions heard over Doha
Several explosions were heard on Monday in the Qatari capital Doha as Gulf nations reported new attacks with Iran pressing its retaliatory strikes across the region.
Doha has been targeted by waves of Iranian drones and missiles since Iran launched a sprawling retaliation campaign across the Gulf in the wake of US and Israeli attacks against the Islamic republic.
Qatar’s defence ministry said on Monday that its forces had intercepted a missile attack.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Kuwait’s defence ministry said the country’s air defences were working to intercept a missile and drone attack on Monday.
Khamenei’s first attack on Israel
Iran has fired its first barrage of missiles at Israel since Mojtaba Khamenei was confirmed as the country’s new supreme leader.
Two waves of missiles were launched ten minutes apart with sirens ringing out in Tel Aviv and the northern city of Haifa as Israelis took shelter.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said at this stage it was treating one woman in a moderate condition for a head injury.
The latest barrage comes after several missiles were fired towards Israel on Sunday leaving seven people injured.
US tells embassy staff to leave Saudi Arabia
The United States is ordering embassy staff to leave Saudi Arabia as Iran continues to strike the kingdom.
The State Department said in a travel advisory it had “ordered non-emergency US government employees and US government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to safety risks.”
Trump claims oil surge is ‘a small price to pay’
Donald Trump has claimed the surging price of oil is a “small price to pay” for the safety of the world.
The US president posted on Truth Social: “Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!President DJT”
Oil has just passed $100 a barrel
Oil has surged past $100 a barrel for the first time in four years as energy supplies are pummelled by the war in Iran.
The price of crude on Sunday evening blew past a landmark it last exceeded during the invasion of Ukraine.
It means the cost of filling a family car with petrol is also set to rise above the £100 mark.
Read more: Oil prices surge past $100 for first time in four years
Who is Mojtaba Khamenei?
Donald Trump claims the remnants of the Iranian regime are looking for an olive branch.
The election of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader suggests otherwise.
Khamenei, the second son of the late Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an air strike on Saturday, is a shadowy, hardline conservative figure with deep links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
From the new supreme leader’s perspective, the recent US-Israeli bombing campaigns have killed his father, mother, wife and son, while shattering Iran’s navy, missile depots and nuclear programme.
Given his background, he could hardly have seen the US as anything but an implacable enemy. But the events of recent days will have given a personal edge to that hatred.
Read more: Iran’s shadowy new supreme leader will see US as an implacable enemy
Qatar will seek deescalation with Iran
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said in a Sky News interview that his country will continue to seek de-escalation with Iran.
“We will continue talking to the Iranians, we will continue trying to seek de-escalation,” he said. “What happened is really a huge shake-up for the trust in the relationship that we have with Iran.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has launched hundreds of drone attacks across the Middle East since war with Israel and the US began on Feb 28.
On Mar 1, six US soldiers were killed in an attack on a US air base in Qatar.
Iran’s Supreme Leader pick likely to anger Trump
Iran has picked Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, as the country’s new Supreme Leader in a move likely to anger Donald Trump.
The 56-year-old hardliner will be seen as a continuation of his father. Here is what Donald Trump has said about him:
- Mr Trump said Iranian ayatollahs were “wasting their time” by thinking about Mojtaba as a successor, describing him as a “lightweight”.
- He said he must hand-pick the next Supreme Leader to ensure “peace and harmony” for Iran. Tehran rejected this.
- The US president went on to say any Supreme Leader deemed unfit by the US “would not last long”.
US says ‘Israeli strikes on Iranian oil depots went to far’
Israel’s strikes on 30 Iranian fuel depots on Saturday went too far and could rally Iranians around the regime, the US thinks, according to Axios.
The news site reported that a US official and Israeli official said Israeli airstrikes had spooked the US, as it feared they could backfire strategically.
It marks the first reported significant disagreement between the US and Israel since the war began on Saturday 1 Feb.
Pictured: Patients treated in Tel Aviv underground car park
American troops captured in Iraq, Iran claims
American troops in Iraq have been taken captive, Iran’s parliament speaker claimed.
The US rejected earlier reports of the claims as “lies and deception”.
In a wide-ranging address, speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf vowed that US forces would be “punished” and ruled out a ceasefire.
”If the enemy attacks us from any country, Tehran will respond decisively,” he told Iranian state TV on Sunday.
US Army death toll rises to seven
A seventh US soldier has died from injuries received after Iran’s initial attacks across the Middle East last week.
The service member was “seriously wounded” in an Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia on Sunday Mar 1, the US Army said.
Six soldiers were killed in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, after an Iranian drone struck a command centre.
“This is the seventh service member killed in action during Operation Epic Fury. Major combat operations continue,” US Centcom said.
“The identity of the fallen warrior will be withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notification.”
IRGC air force base targeted, Israel claims
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps air force headquarters has been targeted by Israeli strikes, the IDF claimed.
Pictured: Donald Trump plays golf in Miami, Florida
US president Donald Trump was seen waving to fans after playing a round of golf in Miami, Florida.
Macron tells Iranian president to reopen Strait of Hormuz
French president Emmanuel Macron has urged the Iranian president to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and to stop attacking Gulf states and other neighbouring countries.
Mr Macron spoke to Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday, the first Western leader to do so since the outbreak of war, urging him to seek a diplomatic solution to the war with Israel and the United States.
“I reiterated our grave concern regarding the development of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic programs and the entirety of its destabilizing activities in the region, which lie at the root of the current crisis,” he said.
“A diplomatic solution is more necessary than ever to address these crucial challenges, put an end to the escalation, and preserve peace.”
Iran launches strikes on Tel Aviv and southern Israel
Iran just launched a wave of strikes at Tel Aviv and southern Israel with “new generation missiles”, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said.
The strike, which is Iran’s 29th salvo since the war began on Feb 28, was aimed at American air bases in the region, the IRGC added.
US commandos ‘could raid Iranian nuclear sites’
The US government is reportedly discussing how to secure Iran’s nuclear facilities and dispose of its enriched uranium with the use of US commandos.
“What was discussed is the entry of special forces to secure nuclear material that can be used to produce nuclear weapons,” a source told Axios. “They will enter together with scientists, perhaps with the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency].”
It is unclear if Iran, which has reportedly made approaches to Washington in the hopes of securing a ceasefire, was involved in those discussions.
Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly said destroying Iran’s nuclear programme is just one of its objectives with the war.
It also wants to demolish its ballistic missile depots and navy, and neuter its proxies in the Middle East.
Iran using civilian areas to launch attacks, US claims
Iran is using heavily-populated civilian areas to fire drones and ballistic missiles, the US has claimed.
US Central Command (Centcom) said in an update on Sunday: “The Iranian regime is using heavily populated civilian areas to conduct military operations, including launching one-way attack drones and ballistic missiles.
“This dangerous decision risks the lives of all civilians in Iran since locations used for military purposes lose protected status and could become legitimate military targets under international law.
“Iranian forces are using crowded areas surrounded by civilians in cities such as Dezful, Esfahan and Shiraz to launch attack drones and ballistic missiles.”
Adm Brad Cooper, the Centcom commander, said: “Iran’s terrorist regime is blatantly disregarding civilian lives by attacking Gulf partners while compromising the safety of their own people.”
On Feb 28, a girls’ school in Minab was hit by an airstrike that Iran has blamed on the US and Israel. More than 150 people were killed, most of them young girls.
Donald Trump, the US president, has claimed Tehran was responsible, while Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, says an investigation is underway.
Four killed in Beirut as Israel targets IRGC commanders
Four people were killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut hotel after Israel said it targeted Iranian IRGC commanders working in the city.
It did not name the elite Quds Force guards.
“The commanders of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps operated to advance terror attacks against the state of Israel and its civilians, while operating simultaneously for the IRGC in Iran,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Pictured: Tehran oil depot gates melt after US and Israeli strikes
The gates of Shahran oil depot in Tehran melted after fierce US and Israeli air strikes were carried out overnight.
The attacks came after Donald Trump vowed “complete destruction” of “areas and people” not previously hit.
Iran said it would target civilian infrastructure across the Middle East.
Iranian anti-regime protesters gather in London
Hundreds of Iranian anti-regime protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy in central London in support of US military action.
They also support Reza Pahlavi, the Iranian Crown Prince, who has been living in exile in the US. Mr Pahlavi’s father was the Shah of Iran until he was deposed in 1979.
Many carried the flag of Iran printed with the emblem of the Shah: a lion carrying a sword in its outstretched hand.
Others waved Israeli and American flags to show support for the joint military operation both countries.
The crowd chanted “Long live the Shah” in Farsi, “God Save the King” and the Imperial Anthem of Iran.
Two people killed in Saudi Arabia after Iran launches attack
Two people were killed and 12 were injured when a projectile fell in a residential area in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, the Saudi Civil Defense said.
Those killed were Indian and Bangladeshi. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said earlier on Sunday that they had targeted radar systems in Al-Kharj and other locations.
UAE ministry releases footage of air defences shooting down Iranian drones
Next supreme leader ‘will not last long’ if US disapproves, Trump says
Donald Trump has warned that Iran’s new supreme leader will not “last long” if the US disapproves of him.
Iranian authorities announced an new leader had been selected following Ali Khamenei’s assassination in an air strike a week ago. They did not name Khamenei’s successor, but many expect it to be his son, Mojtaba.
Mr Trump told ABC News on Sunday the new supreme leader was “going to have to get approval from us ... If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long”.
He added: “We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it.
“I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again or worse, let them have a nuclear weapon.”
British forces shoot down Iranian drone
British forces shot down an Iranian drone fired towards Iraq on Saturday night, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
Iran has launched hundreds of one-way attack drones at Israel and US military bases across the Middle East.
The MoD said RAF Typhoons and F-35 jets were patrolling the skies across the region as the US and Israel continued to strike Iran.
Starmer calls Trump after Iran row
Sir Keir Starmer has spoken with Donald Trump after the US president reportedly began referring to him as a “loser” over his handling of the Iran war.
Here is how the dispute unfolded:
- On Saturday Feb 28, the UK refused to allow the US to fly its planes from British military bases to attack Iran.
- The next day, Sir Keir reversed his decision, and granted the US access for “defensive purposes”.
- The US president told The Telegraph he was “very disappointed” in Starmer for the refusal.
- He went on to say the Prime Minister was “no Churchill”, and suggested the UK should follow the US “without question”.
- When Sir Keir finally said he would send an aircraft carrier to the Middle East, Trump hit back at a “once great ally”, saying “we don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won”.
Moment fires ignite in Tehran after Israeli strikes on oil depots
At least 33 civilians killed in US and Israeli strikes on Friday, NGO says
At least 485 US and Israeli attacks across 30 of Iran’s 31 provinces killed 33 civilians and wounded eight others on Friday, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
The strikes marked a geographic expansion of the campaign, with attacks spreading across most of the country. Tehran and several specific provinces remained the primary focus.
Since the war began on Feb 28, HRANA has documented the death of 1,205 civilians, including at least 194 children.
Iran’s Red Crescent has reported damage by air strikes to 7,943 homes and 1,617 commercial properties, along with medical and educational facilities.
Iran vows to expand strikes beyond military sites
Iran has vowed to expand strikes beyond US and Israeli military sites across the Middle East, raising the prospect of civilian areas being hit.
It comes after Israel targeted Iranian oil depots in overnight strikes, with footage showing flaming streaks of oil in the streets and black billowing smoke across the sky.
On Sunday, Iran hit a water desalination plant in Bahrain. Such infrastructure is crucial for the water supply of the state’s roughly 1.5million people.
US will eliminate ‘Iranian threat once and for all’
America will eliminate the Iranian Islamic Republic “once and for all”, the US ambassador to the UN vowed.
Mike Waltz claimed Iran had been a danger to the world for 47 years, since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
He said: “The military objectives and achievements a week in are truly extraordinary. We’re going to protect the American people and eliminate this threat once and for all.”
Iraqi oil production drops by 70pc
Iraqi oil production has dropped by 70 per cent because the country is unable to send exports via the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran war, sources say.
The nation, which borders Iran, produced an average of 4.3 million barrels per day before the US and Israel attacked its neighbour on Feb 28.
That figure has dropped to 1.3 million barrels. On Monday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the strait was closed, and vowed to attack any ship that passed through it.
It is the world’s most important oil export route, and connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
UAE denies it struck Iranian desalination plant
The United Arab Emirates said it did “not seek to be drawn into conflicts or escalation” after denying reports that it had struck a desalination plant in Iran, but said it reserved the right to defend itself.
A statement from the Emirati foreign ministry said it was “in a state of defence in response to the brutal and unprovoked Iranian aggression.”
The statement said the UAE reaffirmed “its full right to take all necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty, national security, and territorial integrity, and to ensure the safety of its citizens and residents, in accordance with international law and the UN Charter.”
Tehran bookstore damaged in US-Israeli strikes
A bookshop in Tehran was damaged in early morning strikes as American and Israeli bombs continued to fall on Iran’s capital.
Iranian newspaper Haft-e-Sobh published images showing damage to Bahman Book City, a large store near the Bahman cultural centre.
Several strikes were reported across Tehran on Sunday morning.
Iran rejects Trump claim it was behind school explosion
Tehran has dismissed a claim made by Donald Trump that Iran bore responsibility for a deadly explosion at a primary school.
“It is funny. It is our school, these are our students and our girls and they are attacked by an American fighter, a jet fighter and they have been killed. Why (is) Iran responsible?” Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, told US broadcaster NBC.
Asked for evidence that it was an American warplane, Araghchi said “if it was not US, then who was that? Maybe Israelis. But who else is attacking us?”
Earlier on Sunday, Mr Trump said: “We think it was done by Iran. Because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions.”
Satellite images, expert analysis, a US official and public information released by the US and Israeli militaries have suggested that the explosion was likely caused by US airstrikes that also hit an adjacent compound associated with the government’s Revolutionary Guard.
Iran says that more than 165 people – most of them children – died in the explosion, which took place on the first day of the war.
US military accuses Tehran of endangering own citizens’ lives
The US military has accused Iran of using areas with high civilian populations for military operations, including the launch of drones and ballistic missiles.
These tactics “blatantly disregard the safety of innocent people”, the US Central Command said.
“This dangerous decision risks the lives of all civilians in Iran since locations used for military purposes lose protected status and could become legitimate military targets under international law,” according to the statement.
Two Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon
Israel has announced that two of its soldiers have been killed in fighting in Lebanon, marking the first fatalities among its troops since Israel-Hezbollah hostilities resumed last week.
The Israeli army identified one of the soldiers as Master Sergeant Maher Khatar, aged 38, from Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights.
The identity of the second soldier has not been revealed yet.
The Israeli military did not immediately provide further details on the circumstances of the deaths.
Pictured: Aftermath of air strike on Tel Aviv
Zelensky: Ukrainian drone experts will be ‘on site’ in Gulf next week
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said on Sunday that Kyiv’s drone experts will be “on site” in the Middle East “next week”, as he seeks US air defence missiles in exchange for drone expertise.
“I think that next week, when the experts are on site, they will look at the situation and help,” Mr Zelensky told a press conference, when asked how the Ukrainians would be able to help the United States and the Gulf states to repel Iranian drone attacks.
Russia has used Iranian-built Shahed drones extensively to attack Uranian cities as part of the war it started in 2022.
Since the US and Israel attacked Iran a week ago, Tehran has deployed Shahed drones to hit US military infrastructure and civilian buildings on the Arabian Peninsula.
Attacks on Iranian oil depots set to cause global supply turmoil
Global oil and gas supplies are facing chaos after the US and Israel initiated attacks on Iran’s oil and gas infrastructure.
The attacks pose an immediate threat to Iraq and Turkey, which rely on gas piped from Iran, and to China, which buys the bulk of Iran’s crude oil.
Saturday’s Israeli attacks on oil depots near Tehran, the Iranian capital, created an inferno that blanketed the city in thick black smoke.
Tehran’s response was equally destabilising - launching its own strikes at desalination plants around the Gulf which are vital to the region’s water supplies.
The war has blocked the world’s most important oil artery, the Strait of Hormuz, which is responsible for 20 per cent of global oil and LNG supplies.
The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have already started reducing oil production as storage runs down, joining Iraq.
Analysts predict Saudi Arabia will also have to cut output soon. Once all the tankers now in the Gulf are loaded production will grind to a halt.
Trump blames Iran for deadly school strike
Donald Trump, the US president, has blamed Iran for a deadly strike on an Iranian primary school that Iranian officials say killed at least 150 people.
“We think it was done by Iran. Because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who was standing behind Mr Trump, said an investigation was being carried out, adding that the US doesn’t target civilians.
A New York Times investigation has found the US military was most likely responsible.
Pictured: Smoke overpowers Tehran
Russia flies dozens of Iranians out of Beirut
More than 100 Iranians, including diplomats and embassy staff, were evacuated from Beirut overnight on a Russian plane, a Lebanese official told AFP on Sunday.
The evacuation came after Lebanon banned any activity by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps on Thursday and imposed a visa requirement on Iranians entering the country.
“A total of 117 Iranians, including diplomats and embassy staff, were evacuated on a Russian plane that left Beirut overnight from Saturday to Sunday,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The evacuation was carried out via Beirut’s international airport. It is unclear what the plane’s destination was.
Ballistic missile hits Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv has been hit by a ballistic missile.
Israeli rescue workers are currently providing medical treatment to at least three people.
Magen David Adom medical service said three men, 25, 40 and 56, are receiving treatment.
Israeli Police said officers and police bomb disposal units “are currently operating at the scenes to isolate and secure the impact sites. At this stage, property damage has been reported”.
At least 10 explosions were reported over Tel Aviv on Sunday following the Israeli military’s announcement that it had detected new missiles launched from Iran.
UK won’t ‘outsource foreign policy’ to US, says Cooper
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, said on Sunday that Britain needs to learn the lessons of Iraq and not outsource its foreign policy to other countries.
“It is our job as the UK government to decide what’s in the UK national interest, and that doesn’t mean simply agreeing with other countries or outsourcing our foreign policy to other countries,” she told the BBC.
She said that it was important to “learn the lessons” from the Iraq war in 2003 and its aftermath when British forces fought alongside their US counterparts.
Sir Keir Starmer opted against granting the US military permission to use British bases for the first wave of military action, but then said the UK would engage in defensive operations after Iran attacked countries throughout the Middle East.
Pope prays ‘roar of bombs’ will cease
Pope Leo XIV prayed the “roar of bombs” in the Middle East will cease, as the war trigged by US-Israeli air strikes on Iran extended into its ninth day.
“We raise our humble prayer to the Lord, that the roar of the bombs may cease, the weapons may fall silent, and a space for dialogue may open in which the voices of the peoples may be heard,” the pope said at the end of the Angelus prayer.
Norway heightens Oslo security after US embassy blast
Norwegian police officers are searching for one or more potential perpetrators after an explosion outside the US embassy in Oslo.
Authorities said they were examining several possible explanations for the blast, including the possibility that it was a deliberate attack linked to the current war in the Middle East.
No suspects have yet been identified.
“It’s natural to see this in the context of the current security situation and that this could be an attack deliberately targeting the US embassy,” police spokesman Frode Larsen said.
Police have increased their presence around the embassy and are reinforcing security measures across Oslo following the incident. Security measures are also being strengthened around Jewish sites and within Norway’s Iranian diaspora community.
Macron to travel to Cyprus to discuss ‘strengthening island’s security’
Emmanuel Macron will travel to Cyprus on Monday as tensions rise in the eastern Mediterranean, writes The Telegraph’s Joe Barnes.
Mr Macron will meet Nikos Christodoulides, the president of Cyprus and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek prime minister, in Paphos.
Officials at the Élysée Palace said the visit is intended to demonstrate France’s solidarity with Cyprus after the island was struck last week by several drone and missile attacks.
Talks will focus on strengthening security around Cyprus and across the eastern Mediterranean with European partners, while also seeking to de-escalate tensions.
Mr Macron is also expected to stress the importance of safeguarding freedom of navigation through the EU naval mission Operation Aspides, as well as coordinating efforts to ensure the safety and repatriation of European nationals in the region.
Scotland could ban US military flights from Glasgow Prestwick Airport
Scotland’s first minister said he would “explore” banning US military flights from using Glasgow Prestwick Airport to attack Iran.
John Swinney told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg there has to be a “very, very constrained use” of British bases in the conflict.
He said he was “seeking clarity from the United Kingdom Government about the purpose of American flights that are coming in and out of Prestwick”.
When asked if he would ban the US flights if they were found to be part of the effort to attack Iran, he said: “That’s something that I would explore, yes, but I need the information to enable me to take that decision.”
“That’s something that I would explore, yes, but I need the information to enable me to take that decision,” he said.
Switzerland: US-Israeli attack on Iran is illegal
The United States and Israel have broken international law with their attacks on Iran, the Swiss defence minister said.
Martin Pfister said the Swiss cabinet was “of the opinion that the attack on Iran constitutes a violation of international law”.
“In our view it constitutes a violation on the prohibition of violence,” he added, calling on all parties involved to halt the fighting to protect civilians.
The comments come after Lars Klingbeil, the German vice-chancellor, said that he had “serious doubts that this war is legitimate under international law” and ruled out any German participation.
“I say clearly: this is not our war. We will not participate in this war,” he said.
Israel ‘hits over 400 Iranian targets in a day’
Israel has hit “over 400” targets in western and central Iran over the past day, its military said.
The targets included ballistic missile launchers and weapons production sites, it added.
“The Air Force completed a wave of extensive strikes over the past day in western and central Iran, during which more than 400 targets of the Iranian terror regime were attacked,” the IDF, which released footage of some of the strikes, said.
Israel ‘treats every day of war like last’
For Israel “there is no deadline for this war”, a source familiar with the country’s military operation in Iran told The Telegraph.
“They treat every day as the last day of the war, which is why they want to hit as many targets as possible every day,” the source said.
“There are a lot of targets to reach to make sure they will not need to fight Iran again in a year’s time.
“As for Lebanon, Hezbollah is trying to get Israel to evacuate northern Israel by firing rockets and drones at the area. The Israeli response has been effective but restrained so far because they wish to allow the Lebanese government to take control of the situation.
“Israel maintains control over key positions in southern Lebanon. Israeli residents in northern Israel are not asked to evacuate,” the source added.
Loud bang heard outside US embassy in Oslo
Norwegian police are investigating a suspected explosion outside the US Embassy in Oslo in the early hours of Sunday.
No injuries were reported. Officers said they received reports of a “loud bang” at around 1am, according to a police statement.
Local media said an entrance to the embassy suffered minor damage. Witnesses reported that thick smoke filled the street after the blast.
Oslo has deployed additional security personnel following the incident but the country’s terror threat level had not been raised.
Iran targets water desalination plant in Bahrain
Bahrain’s interior ministry said Sunday that an Iranian drone attack damaged a water desalination plant and accused Tehran of “randomly” targeting civilian infrastructure.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said on Saturday that it had struck the United States’ Juffair base in Bahrain, claiming that it had been used to attack an Iranian desalination plant earlier in the day.
Bahrain’s national communication office later said the Iranian attack on a water desalination facility has had no impact on water supplies or network capacity.
Ayatollahs reach agreement on new leader
Iran’s new supreme leader has been chosen, eight days after Ali Khamenei’s death.
“As a result of these investigations, members of the Assembly of Experts have reached consensus on one candidate, and the necessary majority for selection has also been achieved,” Amirreza Hedayati, representative of Khuzestan province in the Assembly of Experts, said.
“This candidate has been reported to the leadership board of the Assembly of Experts and has been verified,” he added.
The new leader’s identity remains a secret - possibly to protect him from US-Israeli strikes.
“The people are ready to pledge allegiance and are eagerly waiting for the official announcement,” Mr Hedayati said.
Iranian cargo ships leave Chinese chemicals port
Two Iranian cargo ships have left a Chinese chemical storage port, according to a report in the Washington Post.
The vessels belong to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), a state-owned firm under sanctions from the US, Britain and the European Union. It is suspected the firm supplies materials for ballistic missiles.
The ships had been docked at Gaolan port on China’s south-eastern coast. The port serves as an export hub for industrial chemicals, including sodium perchlorate, a crucial precursor for solid rocket fuel that Iran requires for its missile programme.
“China could have held these vessels at port, imposed an administrative delay, invented a customs hold — any number of bureaucratic tools, but didn’t,” Isaac Kardon, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said.
Overnight air strikes from Israel and Iran
Israel marked a new phase in its attacks on the Islamic Republic on Saturday night.
The strikes targeted the country’s infrastructure, including an oil facility in Tehran.
Iran also stepped up its attacks on Gulf infrastructure, hitting a water desalination plant in Bahrain.
Iran also targeted Erbil International Airport in the Kurdish region of Iraq.
In Baghdad, the US embassy was targeted by a rocket attack.
In Lebanon, an Israeli strike hit an apartment in a luxury hotel in central Beirut. Israel said the target was a group of Iranian military commanders.
Video: fire engulfs government tower in Kuwait
Iran ‘is not an ally’, says Moscow’s ambassador to UK
Andrey Kelin, Russia’s ambassador to London, is being interviewed on Sky News.
He states that “we have a partnership with Iran, not an alliance.”
“We do not have such treaties. We cooperate with them, but special treaties on defence is a different thing,” he states.
On Cuba, he says that in the event of a US intervention, he says that: “are we going to send troops (to Cuba)? I don’t think so.” But he says that talk of a crisis in Cuba is “hypothetical.”
Three crew missing after tugboat sinks in Strait of Hormuz
Three Indonesian crew members are missing after the United Arab Emirates-flagged tugboat Musaffah 2 sank in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, Jakarta’s foreign ministry has said in a statement.
The Musaffah had seven crew members from Indonesia, India and the Philippines, the ministry said, adding that four survived and three others, all Indonesians, are missing.
Before it sank, the boat experienced an explosion that caused it to catch fire, the statement said, adding that an investigation is under way.
The security firm Vanguard said the tugboat was struck by two missiles while attempting to provide assistance to the Malta-flagged container ship Safeen Prestige. That ship was struck by a missile on Wednesday, Vanguard said in a statement.
Israel will ‘pursue every successor of Khamenei’
The Israeli military warned it would continue pursuing every successor of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US and Israeli strikes on Iran at the beginning of the war.
In a post on X in Farsi, the Israeli military also warned it would pursue every person who seeks to appoint a successor for Khamenei, referring to the clerical body charged with choosing the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader.
The warning comes as the clerical body is set to meet imminently to choose Khamenei’s successor.
Israeli mission targets Iranian fighter jets
Israel said its air force carried out a broad wave of strikes last night, targeting a compound at Isfahan airport where F14 fighter jets were stationed.
The air strikes also targeted detection systems and air defence systems that posed a threat to Israeli Air Force aircraft, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stated.
The attacks come after Israel’s Air Force struck 16 Quds Force aircraft on Friday at the Mehrabad airport in Tehran.
“The IDF will continue to target all systems of the Iranian terror regime across Iran and will expand its aerial superiority,” an Israeli spokesman said.
Iran attacks airport in Kurdish region of Iraq
A drone strike targeted Erbil International Airport in the semi-autonomous Kurdish north overnight, killing one security guard and wounding another person.
Iran has also targeted Iranian Kurdish separatist groups in recent days, with missiles ripping into at least one camp for fighters and their families.
Overnight into Sunday those attacks continued even after US president Donald Trump said he had ruled out arming the Kurds as a proxy ground force to invade Iran.
A UN building in Sulaymaniyeh, along the border with Iran, was also hit in an attack. The extent of damage was not immediately clear.
As attacks have widened, local authorities in northern Iraq have issued instructions to foreign and local journalists not to report on specific details of attacks over apparent concerns of revealing the full impact to Iran.
Iran ‘close’ to picking new supreme leader
The clerical body that will choose Iran’s next supreme leader has more or less reached a majority consensus, Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri said on Sunday.
The Mehr news agency quoted him as saying “some obstacles” still needed to be resolved.
On Saturday, a senior cleric in the Assembly of Experts said its members would meet “within one day” to choose the leader.
Iranian media said the group had a minor disagreement over whether their final decision must follow an in-person meeting.
Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, another member of the Assembly of Experts, said that an in-person meeting was not possible under current conditions.
He said a candidate had been picked based on the late supreme leader’s advice that Iran’s top leader should “be hated by the enemy.”
US Baghdad embassy targeted in overnight strikes on Iraq
Multiple explosions rang out across Iraq overnight as the country was bombarded with some two dozen attacks, prompting sirens to sound and resulting in at least three deaths, writes Sophia Yan in Erbil.
Katyusha rockets targeted the US embassy in Baghdad late Saturday. Iraqi security officials have said that a missile struck the embassy’s helipad.
Witnesses said other rockets fell in the Green Zone -- the heavily fortified quarter that houses embassies -- though there were conflicting accounts on the damage sustained.
The attack is the first time the US embassy has been fired on in more than two years, widening the scope of targets in Iraq.
Drone and missile strikes linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq have increased significantly in recent days, with targets ranging from Western embassies to US-run oilfields.
The US and Israel have hit back at Iraqi paramilitary groups aligned with Iran, making it the only country in the war to be targeted by both sides.
Picture: Beirut hotel room hit by Israeli strike
Kuwaiti officers killed ‘while performing duties’
Two interior ministry officers in Kuwait have been “killed while performing duties”, the Gulf state has said.
Kuwait has named the two guards as Lt Col Staff Abdullah Emad Al Sharrah and Maj Fahad Abdulaziz Al Majmad.
The circumstances of the deaths remain unclear but Kuwait has been intercepting drones and missiles launched from Iran.
Kuwait, which is separated from Iran by a think strip of land belonging to Iraq, has already suffered three confirmed deaths in Iranian attacks since the war began.
Two other confirmed deaths have been soldiers.
Bahrain says three people injured by missile debris
Falling missile debris injured three people and damaged a university building in Bahrain on Sunday, the interior ministry said, as Iran pressed its air campaign against neighbouring Gulf states.
“As a result of the blatant Iranian aggression, three people were injured and material damage was inflicted on a university building in the Muharraq area after missile fragments fell,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to an island area northwest of Manama.
Iran ‘will be forced to respond’ to attacks from neighbouring countries
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said his country “will be forced to respond” to attacks and invasion attempts from neighbouring countries.
In remarks aired on state TV on Sunday, Mr Pezeshkian said if Iran’s enemies “try to use any country to attack or invade our land, we will be forced to respond to that attack. Responding does not mean we have disputes with that country or wish to harm its people – we would be responding out of necessity.”
His comments come a day after Iran apologised to Gulf states and other neighbouring countries for attacking them.
Mr Pezeshkian said his remarks were “misinterpreted by the enemy that seeks to sow division with neighbours”, state TV reported on Sunday, after they were viewed as a decision to suspend attacks on Gulf countries.
Oil depot in Tehran ablaze
The IDF struck several Iranian fuel sites late on Saturday night.
Iran’s ministry of oil released a statement confirming that multiple oil depots in Tehran and Alborz had been targeted.
Videos circulating on social media show a large fire burning near an oil storage facility in north-west Tehran.
These strikes appear to be the first aimed at Iran’s energy infrastructure since the war began last week.
Iran launches two waves of missiles at Israel
Sirens sounded across Israel early on Sunday morning, warning of incoming missiles from Iran.
The IDF said air defences were responding to at least two waves of missiles launched from Iran.
Alerts were activated across large parts of northern Israel, southern Israel and parts of the occupied West Bank.
Residents were urged to take cover in shelters.
Israeli media reported that most missiles had been intercepted. There are no reports of damage or casualties.
Israel targets Iranian commanders in attack on hotel in Beirut
The IDF has said it carried out a strike on a hotel in Beirut to target key commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Four people were killed by the attack and 10 more have been injured.
The Israeli military posted a statement on X: “The IDF struck a short time ago in a targeted manner, key commanders in the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who were operating in Beirut.”
The statement says that, prior to the strikes, steps were taken to minimise the chance of civilian harm.
“The Iranian terror regime operates systematically in the heart of civilian populations in Iran and Lebanon, cynically exploiting the residents and using them as human shields to advance terror objectives.
“The Lebanon Corps serves as a liaison axis between the Hezbollah terror organization and the Iranian terror regime and constitutes a body supporting Hezbollah’s empowerment and force buildup.
“The IDF will not allow the entrenchment of Iranian terror elements in Lebanese territory and will continue to eliminate in a targeted manner the commanders of the Iranian terror regime wherever they operate.”
IRGC say they can fight ‘intense war’ against US and Israel for six months
Iran can continue to fight the US and Israel for at least six months, the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement released to Iranian Fars news agency on Sunday.
“The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are capable of continuing at least a 6 month intense war at the current pace of operations,” said Guards spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini, according to Fars.
The Guards said they had targeted “more than 200” locations related to American and Israeli bases and facilities across the region.
China: The world cannot return to the law of the jungle
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi has said the war in the Middle East should “never have happened” and the use of force was not a way to resolve issues.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing on Sunday, he added: “A strong fist does not mean strong reason. The world cannot return to the law of the jungle.”
Despite China retaining an “objective, impartial” position on the war, Mr Wang urged countries to immediately stop military operations and “return to the negotiation table as soon as possible”.
Saudi Arabia downs drone attempting to target capital
Saudi Arabia has destroyed a drone attempting to target the diplomatic quarter in its capital Riyadh, its defence ministry said.
In a post on X, Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry confirmed there was no damage or civilian injuries caused by the attack.
At least four killed and 10 injured by strike on hotel in Beirut
At least four people have been killed and 10 injured by a strike that hit an apartment in the Ramada hotel building in central Beirut, Lebanon’s health ministry said on Sunday.
Videos circulating on social media show a section of the hotel – which appears to have been hit and one room with shattered windows.
The hotel has allegedly been housing displaced people fleeing the war in southern Lebanon and the capital’s southern suburbs. Some guests were seen leaving the hotel for fear of further strikes.
It is the first attack to hit the heart of the Lebanese capital since the war broke out last week.
Australia mulls protecting Gulf states from Iran attacks
Australia could help protect Gulf states against Iranian drone and missile attacks, foreign minister Penny Wong said on Sunday.
Ms Wong told the ABC that some countries who had been attacked by Iran had “asked for assistance”.
The reporter then sought clarification on whether that meant assistance in protecting those countries from Iranian attacks – to which Ms Wong said “correct”.
“We will work through that in accordance with the position I have outlined, which is, we are not participating in offensive action against Iran, and we’ve made clear we would not participate in any ground troop deployment into Iran,” she added.
Pictured: Israeli strikes hit Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut
Trump says US could send in troops to secure Uranium after the war
The US president said he could deploy US troops to secure Iran’s Uranium after the war.
A reporter on Air Force One asked Mr Trump about the likelihood of sending in ground troops to Iran.
He replied: “There would have to be a very good reason. I would say if we ever did that they would be so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level.”
The US president was then asked about sending in ground troops to secure enriched Uranium.
Mr Trump said: “We’ll find out about that. We haven’t talked about it... It would be a great thing. Right now we’re just decimating them but we haven’t gone after it.
“But something we could do later on. We wouldn’t do it now.”
Welcome
We will be bringing you the latest out of the Middle East conflict today. There has been a number of developments overnight, including:
- At least four killed and 10 injured in an Israeli strike on a Beirut hotel targeting Iranian commanders
- Donald Trump has ruled out sending Kurds into Iran, saying he does not want to make the war “any more complex”
- Several Iranian fuel storage complexes were hit during an Israeli military bombing raid
- The US president said that there has been “no indication” that Russia is helping Iran