Escalating airstrikes, cross-border drone attacks and leadership turmoil inside Iran marked a dangerous new phase of the widening conflict between Israel, the United States and Tehran.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Heavy Israeli airstrikes struck energy infrastructure near Iran’s capital overnight as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensified and Tehran’s ruling clerical leadership moved closer to naming a successor following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Residents in Tehran awoke Sunday to scenes of thick black smoke rising across parts of the city after strikes ignited oil storage facilities during overnight bombardments. Video circulating from the capital showed towering plumes drifting across the skyline after explosions illuminated the night sky with bursts of orange flame.
Iran’s national oil distribution company said four workers were killed in the attack and warned that fuel rationing could temporarily be introduced in some regions in order to maintain supplies.
An Israeli official said the targeted depots were connected to fuel reserves used for military operations, including the supply of weapons development facilities and bases.
Following the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel’s campaign would continue and warned that the country’s leadership structure remained a primary objective of the offensive.
“We have an organized plan with many surprises to destabilize the regime and enable change,” Netanyahu said in a recorded video message. “We have many more targets.”
The conflict entered its ninth day with no indication of de-escalation. U.S. President Donald Trump also signaled that Washington was not pursuing negotiations to end the fighting.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump suggested the war could continue until Iran’s military and leadership apparatus were effectively eliminated.
“At some point, I don’t think there will be anybody left maybe to say, ‘We surrender,’” Trump said.
The conflict has increasingly spread beyond Iran and Israel, drawing several Gulf states into the confrontation through drone attacks and strikes on infrastructure.
Authorities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain reported Iranian drone attacks between Saturday and early Sunday.
In Kuwait, a government office building was engulfed in flames after a strike, and the country’s interior ministry said two officers were killed while carrying out their duties.
Bahrain also reported a drone strike that damaged a desalination facility responsible for producing freshwater. Officials said the incident caused structural damage but did not interrupt the country’s water supply.
The strike represented the first known instance in the conflict where a desalination facility in an Arab Gulf state was hit.
Iran had earlier accused the United States of striking a desalination plant on its Qeshm Island, an attack Tehran said disrupted freshwater access in approximately 30 villages. Iranian officials described the strike as a dangerous escalation with potentially severe consequences.
Saudi Arabia has warned Tehran that continued attacks targeting its territory or energy infrastructure could lead to a direct response, according to individuals familiar with diplomatic communications between the two countries.
Amid growing regional tensions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian issued a public apology to neighboring Gulf states for Iranian attacks directed at U.S. military bases located in their territories.
His statement was met with criticism from some Iranian political hardliners, prompting the president’s office to later clarify that Iran’s military would continue responding to attacks launched from American facilities across the region.
Inside Iran, attention has turned to a critical political decision that could reshape the country’s leadership.
The Assembly of Experts, the powerful clerical body responsible for selecting Iran’s supreme leader, is reportedly preparing to convene to appoint a successor to Khamenei following his death earlier in the conflict.
Assembly member Ayatollah Mohammadmehdi Mirbaqeri said discussions among clerical leaders had moved toward consensus.
“A majority consensus over the successor has more or less been reached,” Mirbaqeri said, according to Iranian media reports.
Another cleric involved in the process, Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, said in a video message that the individual chosen had been evaluated based on guidance attributed to Khamenei himself.
According to Alekasir, Iran’s next supreme leader should be someone “hated by the enemy.”
Multiple Iranian sources have indicated that Mojtaba Khamenei, the late leader’s son, has emerged as the most likely candidate for the position.
Mojtaba Khamenei is believed to have accumulated influence within Iran’s security establishment and through networks tied to the country’s economic institutions.
His selection would signal that Iran’s hardline leadership structure remains firmly in control during the conflict.
Meanwhile, the fighting continues to produce casualties across several countries.
Iranian officials say U.S. and Israeli military operations have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands more since the conflict began.
Iranian attacks have killed 10 people in Israel, according to Israeli authorities.
U.S. officials have also reported that at least six American service members have died during the fighting. Iranian state media said Iranian forces launched strikes against U.S. bases in Kuwait on Sunday.
The conflict has also expanded into Lebanon, where the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rockets and drones toward Israeli territory during the past week.
Israel responded with a strike early Sunday in central Beirut that hit a hotel building where Israeli officials said Iranian commanders were operating.
At least four people were killed in the strike, marking the first Israeli attack in the heart of the Lebanese capital during the current conflict.
The strike has raised concerns that Israel could expand military operations beyond areas traditionally associated with Hezbollah activity, increasing fears that the war may spread further across the region.
As airstrikes, drone attacks and cross-border operations continue across multiple countries, governments throughout the Middle East remain on high alert amid growing uncertainty over how far the conflict may escalate.
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