Category: World

TEL AVIV, June 10 (Reuters) – Benjamin Netanyahu will seek re-election this year, his party announced on Wednesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said ​he wasn’t sure if the Israeli prime minister would stand again.

In a brief statement, ‌Netanyahu’s Likud Party said he would run in the election and, God willing, he would win. The election has not yet been formally announced but must be held by October.

Earlier, ABC ​News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl posted on X that Trump had ​told him he did not know if Netanyahu would stand.

“I don’t ⁠know, he’s had an amazing career. Does he want to continue?” the journalist ​quoted Trump as saying.

The Israeli election will be the first since the October 7, ​2023 Hamas attack, the country’s worst security failure, which precipitated Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu has faced a tumultuous term since returning to power in December 2022 at the helm of ​the most right-wing coalition in Israeli history. He faced mass anti-government protests before ​the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

Polls have repeatedly indicated that his coalition would fail to ‌win ⁠a majority at the next election. A poll published by the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute think tank on June 9 said that 61% of the Israeli public believe he should not run.

However, polls also show that a potential coalition of opposition ​parties would fall short ​of a parliamentary ⁠majority unless they form a coalition with Arab parties, which some opposition leaders have ruled out.

U.S. and Israeli officials say Trump ​and Netanyahu, who launched the Iran war together in February, ​still have ⁠a close relationship, though it has at times seen strain, including in recent weeks as Trump has demanded Israel curb military action in Lebanon while Washington negotiates a peace deal with Tehran.

Last ⁠week, ​Trump acknowledged calling Netanyahu “fucking crazy” in a hot-tempered phone call, ​though he also said they get along well. He has repeatedly called on Israel’s president to pardon ​Netanyahu over outstanding corruption charges that Netanyahu denies.

Jerusalem (AFP) – Air raid sirens sounded in Israel on Sunday as its military worked to intercept barrages of incoming Iranian missiles for the first time since an April ceasefire took hold in the Middle East war.

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards called the attack a “warning” after Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier in the day, threatening wider strikes in the event of repeated aggression.

An April 8 ceasefire had halted major hostilities between Iran, Israel and the United States, but efforts to turn the truce into a settlement have repeatedly stalled, and Sunday’s launches were sure to further dampen hopes for a lasting peace, as the Middle East war reached its 100th day.

Tehran has insisted any deal to permanently end the war must also halt the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel is pursuing a campaign against the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah, and had warned that any new attacks on Beirut would trigger a “full-scale resumption” of hostilities.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the army had “struck a militant command centre in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district, in response to Hezbollah’s fire towards Israeli territory”.

The raid killed two people and wounded 20 more, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

Israel had warned it would hit the area should Hezbollah attack northern Israel, and the group later confirmed having launched missiles and drones at a pair of Israeli army barracks on Sunday morning.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and its chief negotiator in talks with Washington, accused the US of having given a “green light” for the Beirut attack, saying US and Israeli assets were now “legitimate targets”.

Hours later, the Israeli military reported at least three waves of incoming missiles, saying its air defences were “identifying and intercepting threats”.

The head of Iran’s military central command said Israel had “crossed all red lines” with the Beirut strike, demanding it halt its campaign in Lebanon.

“Tonight’s operation was a warning,” the Revolutionary Guards said. “If such aggressions are repeated, the responses will be broader and will cover all US-Zionist targets in the region.”

Shortly after the attack, Iran announced it was closing its airspace over the country’s west, while neighbouring Iraq and nearby Syria followed suit.

‘Gone numb’

The sharp escalation came as Iranians were already feeling the strain of weeks of uncertainty.

Fitness trainer Elaheh from Ahvaz told AFP: “I really have gone numb.”

“Daily life? It’s a joke. Everything is horrible. We only try to survive,” the 32-year-old added, pointing to rising prices.

Farhad, a 35-year-old chef, also said life was becoming “increasingly difficult”, noting economic hardship had set in even before the war.

“Things that just a few months ago you might have considered buying have now become dreams and fairy tales,” he told AFP.

There were some signs of ongoing diplomatic efforts over the weekend, with Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi visiting Tehran.

Naqvi said upon his arrival Saturday that he would deliver a “special letter” from Pakistan’s army chief to Iran’s supreme leader, as well as a message from the prime minister, according to Iranian state television.

Pakistani military leader Syed Asim Munir has played a key role in mediating between Iran and the US following an initial round of direct negotiations in Islamabad.

Also on Saturday, Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal travelled to Pakistan for his own talks with Munir, and a source with knowledge of his visit said it was “linked to the Pakistani mediation” between Tehran and Washington.

‘Deadlock’

Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, had told CNN negotiations with the US “are at a deadlock, and Trump must break this deadlock”, calling for the release of some $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.

But Trump said in the same interview that he would not unfreeze Iranian assets before reaching an initial agreement with Tehran. “If they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking,” he said.

In fact, Washington may seek to use those funds to pay for damage wrought by Iranian strikes on Gulf allies, according to a source familiar with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s thinking.

Meanwhile, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said overnight that it destroyed two Iranian drones “that threatened international maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz”.

A previous drone interception and strikes on Iranian radar sites had prompted Tehran on Saturday to fire a salvo of missiles at US allies Bahrain and Kuwait.

The United States carried out strikes on missile-related targets in southern Iran on Monday, even as diplomatic efforts continued in Doha to negotiate an end to the conflict, US Central Command said.

US Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins said in a statement that the US forces conducted what he described as defensive operations “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” adding that the targets included missile launch sites and boats allegedly preparing to deploy naval mines. No further operational details were provided.

“US forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” Tim Hawkins said.

The strikes come despite a fragile ceasefire that has held since April 8, as Washington and Tehran continue talks aimed at ending a war that has disrupted global energy markets.

US President Donald Trump also weighed in on the diplomatic efforts, saying in a social media post that Iran’s enriched uranium should either be handed over to the United States for destruction or eliminated under international supervision.

He suggested the process should be witnessed by the International Atomic Energy Agency or a similar body, though it was unclear whether his remarks reflected an official negotiating position.

“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event,” Trump wrote.

Earlier on Monday, Trump said it should be mandatory for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Bahrain and Jordan to sign up to the Abraham Accords, a set of agreements brokered in 2020 with nations historically hostile to Israel, as part of a peace deal with Iran.

Trump said he had spoken to the leaders of those countries on Saturday about efforts to end the war with Iran. Bahrain and the UAE have already signed the accords, along with Morocco and Sudan.

While some of those countries have been linked to past US-led normalisation efforts with Israel, several Gulf states have repeatedly stated that formal ties with Israel depend on progress toward a Palestinian state.

Analysts say the latest developments show the fragility of the ceasefire, even as diplomatic optimism briefly lifted after comments from US officials suggesting a possible breakthrough.

Israel’s army chief warned that the military could face internal collapse if the government fails to address a growing manpower shortage, media reports said on Thursday.

Speaking during a security Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said: “I am raising 10 red flags before the IDF collapses into itself,” according to The Jerusalem Post.

Military sources expressed “tremendous concern” over the shortage, particularly amid the ongoing war, noting that even in peacetime, more troops would be required across multiple fronts, including Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank.

Officials warned that without additional personnel, “there will be places with big gaps” in operational coverage.

The shortage has been partly attributed to the absence of legislation significantly expanding conscription among the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) population.

A proposed draft law aimed at increasing haredi enlistment was “set aside” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for unity during the war.

Opposition figures sharply criticized the government following Zamir’s remarks, warning of broader security risks.

Members of the Yesh Atid Party described the stalled conscription effort as “a security danger,” adding that “it is no longer possible to ignore this.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said: “In the next disaster, the government won’t be able to say ‘We didn’t know.’”

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman called for universal conscription, while former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asked: “What are you waiting for, for heaven’s sake?”

Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot stated that mandatory service for all “is the need of the hour,” while other political figures warned that reliance on reservists is reaching unsustainable levels.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Ali Larijani, a top Iranian security official and a conservative force within Iran’s theocracy, was killed in an Israeli strike, Iranian authorities confirmed Tuesday. He was 67.

Larijani was widely believed to be running the country following the killing of its supreme leader in U.S. and Israeli strikes late last month that sparked a widening war. Israel said earlier Tuesday that it had killed Larijani, but it was several hours before Iran confirmed his death.

He had been appointed to advise Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration and traveled to Oman to meet with mediators just two weeks before the war began. Like other top Iranian leaders, Larijani was under heavy U.S. sanctions and implicated in the violent repression of mass protests in January.

He was ineligible to become supreme leader after Khamenei’s death because he is not a Shiite cleric. But he was widely expected to serve as a top adviser, and many believed he was running the country as U.S. and Israeli strikes have driven Iran’s leadership underground. The Supreme National Security Council said his son Morteza Larijani was also killed.

A week ago, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran “TWENTY TIMES HARDER” if Tehran stopped oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, Larijani responded on X.

“The sacrificial nation of Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats. Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran,” he wrote. “Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”

Larijani was born into one of Iran’s most famous political families, which many media outlets have compared to the Kennedys in the United States. One brother, Sadeq, served as the head of Iran’s judiciary, while another, Mohammad Javad, was a senior diplomat who closely advised the late Khamenei on foreign affairs.

Over the years, Larijani issued increasingly hard-line threats. In the 1990s, he served as Iran’s culture minister, tightening censorship. He served as parliament speaker from 2008 to 2020, and most recently as head of the Supreme National Security Council.

He wrote at least six philosophy books, including three exploring the works of German philosopher Immanuel Kant.

Mojtaba Khamenei, a cleric long seen as one of the most influential yet least visible figures in Iran’s political establishment, has been named the country’s new supreme leader following the death of his father in a US-Israeli airstrike.

The 56-year-old cleric was selected by Iran’s Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body responsible under the Constitution for appointing the country’s top political and religious authority. His selection followed the established constitutional procedure rather than a hereditary transfer of power, although his family lineage and proximity to the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have long placed him at the center of speculation about succession.

With his appointment, Mojtaba becomes the third supreme leader of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution, inheriting leadership at a moment of intense regional conflict and domestic uncertainty.

Early life and family background

Mojtaba was born on Sept. 8, 1969 in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, one of the country’s major religious centers. He is the second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran as supreme leader from 1989 until his killing over a week ago in US-Israeli airstrikes, as well as the grandson of cleric Sayyed Javad Khamenei.

Growing up in a politically charged environment, Mojtaba witnessed the rise of his father as a key figure in the Islamic Revolution and later as president of Iran before assuming the role of supreme leader.

He married Zahra Haddad-Adel, the daughter of Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, a prominent conservative politician and former parliament speaker who currently heads one of Iran’s leading cultural institutions.

Zahra was also among those killed in the US-Israeli strike that targeted the Khamenei family’s residential compound in the capital Tehran. Mojtaba survived the attack, but also lost his mother, sister, brother-in-law, and nephews.

Education and clerical training

Like many figures within Iran’s clerical establishment, Mojtaba pursued his religious education in the city of Qom, the country’s leading center of Shia theological learning and home to the seminaries that train Iran’s clergy.

He studied Islamic jurisprudence and theology under several prominent conservative scholars, including Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani, and Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, an influential ideologue who mentored many conservative political figures in the Islamic Republic.

According to Iranian analysts, Mojtaba has spent much of his career teaching at the Qom seminaries, including advanced jurisprudence classes known as dars-e kharej, considered the highest level of seminary education.

Recent reports suggested he had temporarily suspended some of his classes for personal reasons, though this could not be independently confirmed.

Despite decades in the clerical establishment, Mojtaba has never held a formal government post or served in an elected or executive office.

Role and influence

International media frequently portray Khamenei as an opaque figure with possible behind-the-scenes influence. His limited public visibility reinforces this image, as there are no extensive public speeches, interviews, or political manifestos laying out his positions.

Mojtaba’s name has periodically surfaced in political discussions in Iran, usually in connection with presidential elections or speculation about which candidates he might support.

Yet Mojtaba himself has rarely entered public political debates. His appearances have mostly been limited to official ceremonies, national commemorations, and religious gatherings covered by Iranian state media.

The last time he was publicly seen was during a pro-government rally following widespread protests earlier this year.

According to Iranian reports, Mojtaba also took part in the Iran-Iraq War during the late 1980s when his father was serving as president.

He reportedly joined volunteer units as a young man, marking his first experience with military affairs.

Some Western media outlets have also linked him to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), one of Iran’s most powerful institutions, though he does not hold any formal role there.

Succession under threat

Mojtaba Khamenei is taking the nation’s leadership mantle at one of the most volatile moments in modern Iranian history.

The transition also unfolds under direct threats from Israel, whose leaders have vowed to assassinate any Iranian leader picked to succeed Khamenei.

“Any leader selected by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan for Israel’s destruction, threatening the United States, the free world and countries in the region, and suppressing the Iranian people, will be a certain target for assassination, no matter his name or where he hides,” Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said on social media platform X.

The threats underscore the extraordinary pressure surrounding the succession, placing Mojtaba at the center of a geopolitical confrontation that extends far beyond Iran’s borders.

How different would he be from his father?

 

This is the most consequential question for Iran. The answer is likely less different than many might expect.

Ali Khamenei was a figure of the revolutionary generation. His authority rested on ideological legitimacy, decades spent amassing and consolidating power, and his ability to arbitrate between competing factions. Over time, he became the system’s final referee.

Mojtaba Khamenei, by contrast, is often portrayed as a product of the security establishment, rather than a public theologian or statesman. He is known less for speeches or religious authority than for his influence and the networks he has built behind-the-scenes coordination.

If that assessment is correct, the shift would be from a leader who balanced institutions to one who may lean more heavily on the might of the IRGC. This would deepen an existing trend toward the securitisation of Iranian politics.

In a period of war and instability, regimes typically prioritise continuity and control. Mojtaba’s appeal to the establishment, therefore, appears to rest on several factors:

A figure trusted by the most powerful security institutions also reduces the chance of power struggles or fragmentation at the top.

What might this mean for the war?

A new supreme leader rarely produces an abrupt ideological shift, especially during a military conflict. Continuity is the more likely outcome.

Mojtaba Khamenei’s profile suggests a more security-centred style of leadership with three possible ways forward.

First, domestic control may harden. Given Mojtaba’s reported ties to the security establishment, unrest is more likely to be met with swift repression rather than political accommodation.

Second, the IRGC could expand its influence in regional affairs, given how closely aligned Mojtaba is with the guards.

Third, any negotiations with the West would likely be tactical rather than transformative. They would be framed as a strategic necessity rather than an ideological shift.

And given the fact his father was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes, this will only reinforce a more hardline posture toward both countries.

In short, Iran under Mojtaba Khamenei would likely remain confrontational in rhetoric, but pragmatic when regime survival is at stake.

Iran’s Assembly of Experts announced in a statement on Sunday that Mojtaba Khamenei has been chosen as the country’s new supreme leader, days after Iran International first reported on Tuesday that the Assembly of Experts had selected him under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards.

“In today’s extraordinary session, the Assembly of Experts, by the decisive vote of its members, selected and introduced Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the body said in a statement.

“In conclusion… (the Assembly) calls on the noble people of Iran, especially the elites and intellectuals of the seminaries and universities, to pledge allegiance to the leadership and preserve unity around the axis of guardianship,” it added.

Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi called on Australia to ensure the safety of members of Iran’s women’s national football team, saying they face pressure and threats after refusing to sing the Islamic Republic’s national anthem during the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.

“The members of the Iranian Women’s National Football Team are under significant pressure and ongoing threat from the Islamic Republic,” Pahlavi said in a post on X.

“As a result of their brave act of civil disobedience in refusing to sing the current regime’s national anthem, they face dire consequences should they return to Iran. I call on the Australian government to ensure their safety and give them any and all needed support,” he added.

Iran’s powerful clerical body responsible for selecting the country’s supreme leader says it has reached a decision on who will succeed the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, though the chosen name has not yet been publicly announced.

Members of the Assembly of Experts confirmed on Sunday that the vote to appoint Iran’s next supreme leader has already taken place. Ahmad Alamolhoda, a member of the assembly, revealed that the process had concluded and that the secretariat would soon release the name of the selected leader.

“The vote to appoint the leader has taken place and the leader has been chosen,” Alamolhoda said, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency. He added that the official announcement would come later from the body’s secretariat.

The Assembly of Experts, composed of senior clerics, holds constitutional authority to appoint and oversee the supreme leader — the highest political and religious authority in Iran, with the final say over all matters of state, including military, political, and judicial decisions.

Although the official identity of the new leader has not yet been disclosed, speculation is mounting that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, could assume the role. Mojtaba has long been mentioned as a possible successor to his father, who has ruled Iran as the supreme leader since 1989.

Mohsen Heydari, another member of the selection body representing Khuzestan province, confirmed that the assembly had reached a consensus.

“The most suitable candidate, approved by the majority of the Assembly of Experts, has been determined,” Heydari told Iran’s ISNA news agency.

Heydari also referenced comments from the United States, saying the “Great Satan” had already mentioned the name of the chosen candidate, using Iran’s long-standing political term for Washington.

U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted he should play a role in determining Iran’s next leader and has dismissed the possibility of Mojtaba Khamenei taking the position, calling him a “lightweight.” Iranian officials, however, have strongly rejected any suggestion that Washington could influence the decision.

Another assembly member, Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri, confirmed that a final decision had been reached. In a video published by Iran’s Fars news agency, he said: “a firm opinion reflecting the majority view has been reached.”

The leadership transition follows the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28 during U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran — an event that triggered a broader conflict across the Middle East.

Tensions surrounding the succession have intensified further, with the Israeli military issuing a warning on social media directed at members of the Assembly of Experts. In a post written in Farsi on X, Israel said it would closely monitor the process and warned that it would not hesitate to target those involved in selecting the next leader.

Despite the threats and the volatile regional environment, Mirbagheri said the clerical body remains determined to complete its task.

He said that members were proceeding carefully, acknowledging that “the current circumstances are difficult and obstacles remain,” but emphasised that the process of choosing Iran’s next supreme leader would continue with precision.

United States President Donald Trump has posted on social media that he does not need the United Kingdom to deploy aircraft carriers to the Middle East, amid the ongoing war with Iran.

Saturday’s post on Truth Social follows a statement from the UK’s Ministry of Defence that one of its two flagship aircraft carriers, the HMS Prince of Wales, has been placed on “high readiness”.

“The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East,” Trump wrote.

“That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”

The post, with its reference to the UK as a “once great ally”, signals a deepening rift between the two countries that has emerged since Trump returned to office last year.

The divide appears to have deepened over the past week, as the US and Israel continue to hammer Iran as part of a war they launched on February 28, 2026.

The conflict has sparked fears across the Middle East, as retaliatory strikes from Tehran target US allies across the region.

Already, an estimated 1,332 people have been killed in Iran, and the US has confirmed the deaths of six of its service members. More deaths have been reported in countries like Lebanon, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.

The UK government has increased its involvement in the war on Iran, widely considered illegal under international law.

The UK Defence Ministry, for instance, said on Saturday that the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer had allowed the US to use its military bases for what it termed “limited defensive purposes”.

The bases include RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and the Diego Garcia site in the Chagos Islands, located in the Indian Ocean. Initially, there had been reports that Starmer had blocked the US use of the bases.

In the immediate aftermath of the initial US-Israeli strike, Starmer appeared to blanche at the prospect of joining the war.

He and the leaders of France and Germany issued a joint statement, underscoring that any actions they might take would be defensive in nature.

“We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source,” the joint statement said.

“We have agreed to work together with the US and allies in the region on this matter.”

But Starmer has had to push back on domestic criticism both for and against joining the war.

On Monday, he told the UK Parliament, “We are not joining the US and Israeli offensive strikes”, citing the need to protect “Britain’s national interest” and “British lives”.

When asked if they supported Starmer’s initial decision not to allow the US to use UK bases, 56 percent of respondents approved. Only 27 percent said it was the wrong choice.

Thousands of protesters gathered outside the US Embassy in London on Saturday to call for an end to the ballooning conflict.

The US president, meanwhile, has upped his criticism of Starmer over the past week, further fraying relations with the UK government.

—Al Jazeera.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards continued launching attacks on neighboring countries despite President Pezeshkian’s apology to regional states and his order for the armed forces to halt such strikes, highlighting tensions over who controls wartime decisions.