Interim summary
In case you’re just tuning in to our live coverage, here’s a snapshot of the latest developments in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
- Iran has named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his slain father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signalling that hardliners remain in charge.
- Fresh missile and drone strikes by Israel and Iran reverberated across the Middle East as the war entered its 10th day. The Israeli military said on Monday it had begun a wave of attacks in central Iran and had struck Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.
- The war has sent oil prices surging and Asian stock markets into a nosedive. Global oil prices rose past $100 (£74) a barrel for the first time since 2022 as fallout from the war continues to wipe 20m barrels of oil from the market each day.
- Pope Leo warned of “a tragedy of enormous proportions” due to the “widespread climate of hatred and fear” in Iran and across the region.
- Iran and its proxies appeared to have launched attacks across the region. Those included reports of strikes targeting a US diplomatic facility near Baghdad’s international airport but being intercepted, a drone interception east of Saudi Arabia’s northern Jawf region, and thick smoke seen rising from the direction of the Bapco oil refinery in Bahrain.
- Trump said that when to end the war would be a “mutual” decision he would make with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Times of Israel reported.
- The US military reported a seventh American had died from wounds sustained during Iran’s initial counterattack. The Israeli military said two of its soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon. The US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran’s UN ambassador.
With agencies
Bahrain’s Bapco declares force majeure after oil refinery attack
Bahrain’s state-owned energy company Bapco Energies has declared force majeure on its group operations after Iran attacked the country’s only oil refinery, news reports are saying.
A statement from the company said it “hereby serves notice of force majeure on its group operations which have been affected by the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its refinery complex”.
Last week Qatar – the Gulf’s biggest liquefied natural gas producer – suspended activity at its facilities on Monday and declared force majeure on gas exports on Wednesday, freeing it from contractual obligations to its customers.
Hezbollah says it is fighting Israeli forces who landed in east Lebanon
Hezbollah said on Monday it was fighting Israeli forces who landed in eastern Lebanon by helicopter across the Syrian border, the second such operation since the outbreak of the latest conflict with Israel.
Hezbollah said it detected “the infiltration of approximately 15 Israeli enemy helicopters” from the Syrian side of the border in eastern Lebanon, an area where Hezbollah holds sway.
The Iran-backed militant group said in its statement that its fighters “engaged the helicopters and the infiltrating force with appropriate weapons” and that the confrontation was ongoing, the AFP news agency reported.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency earlier said there were “fierce clashes… towards the outskirts of the town of Nabi Sheet to repel Israeli forces that carried out a landing by helicopters” in the area.
Two Hezbollah officials in the Bekaa region, where Nabi Sheet is located, told AFP that an Israeli helicopter was downed.
The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the incident.
It was the second such raid after an Israeli commando operation in Nabi Sheet and its surrounding areas overnight on Friday failed to find the remains of Ron Arad, an airman missing since 1986. The fighting left three Lebanese soldiers and 41 residents of the Bekaa valley dead, according to the Lebanese army and ministry of health.
Saudi Arabia condemns ‘reprehensible’ Iranian attacks on Gulf states
Saudi Arabia has condemned what it calls Iran’s “reprehensible” and unjustifiable aggression against the kingdom and other Gulf states.
The Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement on X:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs renews the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s categorical condemnation of the reprehensible Iranian aggressions against the Kingdom, the Gulf Cooperation Council states, a number of Arab and Islamic countries, and friendly nations, which cannot be accepted or justified under any circumstances.
The Kingdom affirms its full right to take all measures that ensure the protection of its security, sovereignty, and the safety of its citizens and residents, and to deter aggression.
Qatar arrests more than 300 over alleged ‘misleading information’
Qatar says 313 people of different nationalities have been arrested over allegations of inciting public concern amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The arrests were carried out as part of “ongoing efforts to monitor and address the misuse of social media platforms”, the Qatari interior ministry said in a press release posted on X.
It said:
The arrests were made for filming and circulating unauthorized video clips, spreading misleading information and rumours, and disseminating content intended to incite public concern, in violation of official directives.
The interior ministry also said it “stresses the importance of refraining from filming, publishing video clips or circulating rumours related to the current situation, and calls on the public to obtain information solely from approved official sources”.