Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump today and outlined his proposals aimed at a quick end to the war with Iran, Kremlin aide for foreign policy Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
The two leaders also discussed the conflict in Ukraine, as well as the situation in Venezuela in the context of the global oil market, Ushakov added, Reuters reports.
US President Donald Trump believes the war against Iran is "practically over" and that Washington is "well ahead" of the originally estimated four to five weeks, a CBS News reporter on the X network reported, citing an interview with him.
"I think the war is practically over. They have no navy, they have no communications, they have no air force," CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang reported Trump as saying.
Trump, Reuters reports, also said that the United States is "very far" ahead of the originally estimated four to five week deadline for the war.
Speaking about Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Trump told CBS News:
"I don't have any message for him."
Trump added that he had a person in mind to replace Khamenei, but did not provide further details.
Iran will increase the intensity and frequency of missile attacks, the Revolutionary Guards said.
"The power and frequency of Iranian missile launches will be increased, and their range will be wider," state media quoted Majid Mousavi, commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Aerospace Forces, as saying.
From now on, no rocket will be launched with a warhead lighter than one ton, Mousavi said, Reuters reports.
The launch of rockets by the Lebanese pro-Iranian militant group Hezbollah towards Israel was retaliation for the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a senior official from the group said.
Senior Hezbollah official Mohamed Raad said in a speech that the group would defend its existence "regardless of the cost."
Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli strikes on Iran on the first day of their air war. Hezbollah attacks on Israel prompted Israel to bomb Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut and southern Lebanon, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.
Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his election as Iran's new supreme leader, the state-run Oman News Agency reported.
Oman is calling for a calm of tensions and dialogue to end the regional crisis caused by the US-Israeli war against Iran.
A fuel tank at the commercial port of Duqm in Oman was attacked by several drones on March 3, as the US and Israel attacked Iran, which retaliated with attacks on neighboring countries.
US President Donald Trump reiterated in an interview with NBC News that he is unhappy with the choice of Iran's new supreme leader.
Shiite religious officials have chosen Khamenei's 56-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is considered a hardliner, as his successor.
"I don't know if it's going to last. I think they made a mistake," Trump said.
The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, close to Iran, today swore allegiance to the new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
Hezbollah congratulated Khamenei on his election in a short statement broadcast on social media.
The pro-Iranian movement swore "loyalty" and affirmed the "unwavering nature of its devotion" to the new leader who was elected on Sunday, following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on February 28, the first day of US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
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NATO air defenses in the eastern Mediterranean have shot down a second ballistic missile fired from Iran that entered Turkish airspace, the Turkish Defense Ministry said today, warning that it would take necessary steps without hesitation.
This is the second Iranian ballistic missile aimed at NATO member Turkey in the past seven days.
In a statement, the ministry said the munitions fell in the southeastern province of Gaziantep and that there were no casualties in the incident. It called on all parties to heed Ankara's warnings.
One person has been killed and another seriously injured after a rocket hit a construction site in central Israel, a spokesman for Israel's emergency services said, the BBC reports.
Meanwhile, a man in his thirties was taken to hospital with serious injuries from shrapnel at another location.
The staff of the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in Tehran left Iran and landed at Sarajevo Airport yesterday afternoon.
Ambassador Nijaz Čardaklija confirmed to Sarajevo's Avaz that the BiH embassy in Tehran is operating at reduced capacity with local staff, but that it is not locked down.
He stated that the embassy is working at a technical level, that is, receiving and responding to documents and correspondence, adding that diplomatic activities have died down anyway, that there is no longer a diplomatic corps in Tehran and that no one is issuing visas anymore.
Čardaklija pointed out that after the escalation of the war, the evacuation was postponed, but in the end, the host's recommendation was decisive.
"One of the basic functions of the receiving country is to ensure the physical integrity of embassy facilities and the lives of accredited diplomats. They were no longer able to provide that. As long as we were there, we were a burden and a worry for them. Now at least they have one less worry," said Čardaklija.
The staff of the BiH embassy left Iran via Turkey, from where they flew from Istanbul to Sarajevo.
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Iran launched new attacks on Israel and the Persian Gulf countries today, just hours after Iranian television announced that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, had been named his successor.
Iran's powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guards report to the supreme leader and the younger Khamenei will play a central role in the war strategy. Saudi Arabia stepped up its warnings to Iran, telling it on Monday that it would be the "biggest loser" if it continued to attack Arab states. The Saudi statement followed a drone attack on a major Saudi oil field, Shaybah.
A barrage of drones was fired early this morning in the direction of Saudi Arabia, just hours after an attack in that country killed two Bangladeshi citizens.
The Saudi Ministry of Defense said it had intercepted drones in the northern Jawf region, as well as near the large Shaybah oil field.
Late last night, an attack on the central city of Kharge killed two Bangladeshi citizens and wounded 12 people, only one of whom was not from Bangladesh.
Sirens sounded again in Bahrain today due to incoming missiles.
The Israeli military has warned of new rocket fire from Iran. Shortly after, sirens sounded in parts of northern Israel.
Bahrain's state oil company has declared a "force majeure" on its deliveries after an Iranian attack on its refinery, which set it on fire.
The state-run Bahrain News Agency carried an announcement declaring "force majeure," a legal maneuver under which a company is released from contractual obligations due to extraordinary circumstances.
The company said its operations were “impacted by the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its refinery complex.” Bahrain also said it could meet local demand.
The United Arab Emirates said today that its air defenses had intercepted drones and missiles coming from Iran for the second day in a row.
An Iranian attack on Bahrain today set fire to the island kingdom's only oil refinery, with tall plumes of smoke seen billowing from the complex. Online videos purportedly show a fire at Bahrain's Sitra refinery.
The state-run Bahrain News Agency said later in the day that the fire was caused by Iranian aggression targeting the refinery in Maamer, causing material damage but no casualties. Maamer is a Bahraini village near the refinery.
The Bahraini government did not immediately identify the refinery as the facility hit, even though the refinery has been the target of repeated Iranian attacks since the start of the war.
The Israeli military said today that it had struck targets in the Iranian city of Isfahan, where security forces were targeted. It said it had struck a command center of the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps and its volunteer Basij forces.
The Israeli military also said it had hit a rocket engine production facility, as well as rocket launch sites.
Iran did not immediately confirm the strikes. It has also not released figures on its material losses since the war began on February 28.
Oil prices soared on Monday due to the conflict in the Middle East, raising further concerns that high energy prices will fuel inflation and lead to less spending by American consumers, the main engine of the US economy. Asian stocks also fell, with Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index losing as much as 7 percent in trading, and other Asian indices also falling.
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Authorities in Abu Dhabi said one person suffered minor injuries and another was seriously injured after debris fell in two locations, the BBC reported.
This happened after air defense systems intercepted aerial threats, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said.
Earlier, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Defense said it had responded to missile and drone threats from Iran.
Hezbollah announced today that it is fighting Israeli forces that crossed the border from Syria by helicopter and landed in eastern Lebanon, the second such operation since the outbreak of the latest conflict with Israel, reports the British newspaper The Guardian.
Hezbollah said it had detected "the intrusion of around 15 hostile Israeli helicopters" from the Syrian side of the border in eastern Lebanon, an area where the group has strong influence.
The group, which is backed by Iran, said its fighters "targeted helicopters and deployed forces with appropriate weapons" and that clashes were still ongoing, AFP reported.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency earlier reported that "fierce clashes... were taking place towards the outskirts of the town of Nabi Shit, to repel Israeli forces that had landed in the area by helicopter."
Two Hezbollah officials in the Bekaa region, where Nabi Shit is located, told AFP that an Israeli helicopter had been shot down.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.
It was the second such operation, after an Israeli commando operation in Nabi Shit and the surrounding area, carried out overnight between Friday and Saturday, failed to find the remains of Ron Arad, a pilot missing since 1986. Three Lebanese soldiers and 41 residents of the Bekaa Valley were killed in the fighting, according to the Lebanese army and the health ministry.
Bahrain's state-owned energy company Bapco has declared force majeure after its operations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East and a recent attack on its refinery, the BBC reports.
A declaration of force majeure allows a company to be released from its contractual obligations when an extraordinary event occurs that is beyond its control.
The benchmark oil price previously surpassed $100 a barrel as attacks across the region reduce supply and make transporting oil to market significantly more difficult and expensive.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued an urgent warning to people in Lebanon, including those in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the BBC reports.
IDF spokesman Avichai Adrai said that in the coming hours, the IDF will "act forcefully against the terrorist infrastructure linked to the Al-Qard al-Hasan Association."
Israel claims that the Al-Qard al-Hasan Association finances Hezbollah's military activities, a claim the group denies. The Al-Qard al-Hasan Association says it only grants small, interest-free loans to ordinary Lebanese citizens.
Saudi Arabia has condemned what it calls "reprehensible" and unjustified Iranian aggression against the kingdom and other Gulf states, the British newspaper The Guardian reports.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a post on the Iks website: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's categorical condemnation of the reprehensible Iranian aggression against the Kingdom, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, numerous Arab and Islamic countries, as well as friendly countries, 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, as well as deterrence against aggression."
Iran's Assembly of Experts appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as the country's new supreme leader last night, succeeding his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, state media reported last night, as reported by Reuters.
But Khamenei was also killed in an Israeli-American bombing on the first day of the war, February 28th.
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Global oil prices have surged above $100 (€86, £74, AUD142) per barrel for the first time since 2022, as the fallout from the war between the United States (US) and Israel with Iran continues to knock 20 million barrels of oil off the market every day, the British newspaper The Guardian reports.
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