Middle East crisis live: Mojtaba Khamenei chosen as Iran’s new supreme leader; oil prices soar past $100 a barrel
Iran has named hardliner Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader; Donald Trump says oil price spike ‘a small price to pay’ as markets tumbleFull report: Ali Khamenei’s son...
By Adam Fulton · The Guardian World
Iran has named hardliner Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader; Donald Trump says oil price spike ‘a small price to pay’ as markets tumble Full report: Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba chosen as Iran’s new supreme leader Tell us: how have you been affected by the latest events in the Middle East? Hello and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the war on Iran. Here are the main developments: Iran has named Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader after the killing of his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes, state-run media announced. He was selected by Iran’s Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body of elected senior clerics tasked with choosing the supreme leader. Donald Trump warned that Iran’s new leader “is not going to last long” if the Iranians do not get his approval first for the theocratic posting. “He’s going to have to get approval from us,” the president told ABC News. “If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long. 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.” The Iran war has driven the price of crude oil above $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022. Trump brushed aside concerns about the surging price of oil caused by the US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, even as the price of crude topped $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022. “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,” Trump wrote, adding all in capitals that “only fools would think differently”. Another US military service member has died from wounds sustained during Iran’s initial counter-attack a week ago, bringing the number of US troops killed in action so far in the war with Iran to seven, the US military said on Sunday. Lebanon’s health ministry said the number of people killed from Israeli airstrikes in the…