Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his appointment as Iran’s new supreme leader, the Kremlin has said. Putin said he was
confident Khamenei would continue his father’s work "with honour" and unite the Iranian people “in the face of severe trials”. He added that Russia would continue to stand by Tehran, saying he wished to "confirm unwavering support for Tehran and solidarity with our Iranian friends". Iran named Mojtaba, a son of the country's late supreme leader, the Islamic Republic’s next ruler, putting a hard-line cleric in charge as the war spreading across the Middle East sent oil prices skyrocketing with Iran launching new attacks on regional energy infrastructure. Though the Russia welcomed Mojtaba's appointment, Donald Trump, expressing that he was not satisfied, said, "he's (Mojtaba) going to have to get approval from us… 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…"
Mojtaba Has Close Ties With Iran's IRGC
With Iran’s theocracy under assault by the United States and Israel for more than a week, the country’s Assembly of Experts chose the secretive, 56-year-old cleric with close ties to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as the new supreme leader. The Guard has been firing missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf Arab states since the younger Khamenei’s father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed February 28 during the war’s opening salvo.
Iran Conflict Surges Crude Oil Price To $120 Barrel, 65 Per Cent Higher in 10 Days
Iran's stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz has also all but stopped tankers from using the shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman through which a fifth of the world's oil is carried. Brent crude oil, the international standard, surged to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday, about 65% higher than when the war started, before retreating slightly.
Trump Downplays Oil Price Hike
As global economic concerns grew, US President Donald Trump downplayed the spike in prices.
"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 USA, and World, Safety and Peace," Trump wrote on social media.
Iran Continues To Target Israeli, American Bases in Middle East
Iran has targeted Israel and American bases in the region since the start of the war. On Monday, a man was killed in central Israel in a missile strike, raising the country's death toll in the war to 11.
As Iran continued to hit regional energy infrastructure, a fire broke out Monday at an oil facility that was attacked in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Bahrain's only oil refinery was apparently also hit and Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted several drones attacking its Shaybah oil field.
Israel, meantime, claimed strikes on targets in Iran’s city of Isfahan, saying it hit command centers for the Revolutionary Guard and its volunteer Basij force, as well as a rocket engine production facility and missile launch sites. There was no immediate confirmation from Iran.
In Israel, sirens blared multiple times across the country as Iran's drones and missiles were unrelenting. A woman was wounded by debris in central Israel.
With inputs from AP
