Israeli forces expanded their bombardment of Iran overnight, striking fuel depots near Tehran, while Bahrain said an Iranian attack had damaged one of its desalination plants, signaling a widening assault on vital infrastructure across the region.
As fighting escalated on day nine of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, Tehran moved closer to naming a new supreme leader after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with every indication suggesting his powerful son Mojtaba Khamenei could take charge.
Israel’s military threatened to kill any replacement for Ali Khamenei, while US President Donald Trump said the war might only end once Iran’s military and rulers had been wiped out.
Photo: AFP
Thick, choking black smoke hung over Tehran yesterday, residents said, after strikes on oil storage facilities had lit up the night sky with plumes of orange flame.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that the large-scale attack marked a “dangerous new phase” of the conflict and amounted to a war crime.
“By targeting fuel depots, the aggressors are releasing hazardous materials and toxic substances into the air, poisoning civilians, devastating the environment, and endangering lives on a massive scale,” he wrote on X.
Photo: AFP
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters the depots were used to fuel Iran’s war effort, including producing or storing propellant for ballistic missiles.
“They are a legal military target,” he said.
Shortly after the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would press on with the assault and strike Iran’s rulers “without mercy.”
“We have an organized plan with many surprises to destabilize the regime and enable change,” he said in a video statement. “We have many more targets.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was not interested in negotiating an end to the conflict that has sent energy prices skyward, hurt business and snarled global travel.
“At some point, I don’t think there will be anybody left maybe to say: ‘We surrender,’” Trump said.
The governments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain reported Iranian drone attacks in their countries on Saturday and early yesterday, with a huge fire engulfing a government office block in Kuwait.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of the Interior said two of its officers were killed “while performing duties,” while the UAE said four migrant workers had died in Iranian attacks there so far.
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