The body in charge of selecting a new supreme leader for Iran says it has reached a decision – although the name was not immediately announced.

Israel has warned it would target any figure chosen to replace Ali Khamenei, who was killed in joint US-Israeli strikes on the first day of the war with Iran.

“The most suitable candidate, approved by the majority of the Assembly of Experts, has been determined,” Mohsen Heydari, a member of the selection body, said on Sunday, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.

Another member, Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri, confirmed in a video carried by Iran’s Fars news agency that “a firm opinion reflecting the majority view has been reached”.

Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir suggested the figure chosen to succeed the supreme leader would most probably be someone opposed by Washington.

He said the “Great Satan” – Iran’s term for the US – had inadvertently done the assembly “a kind of service” by publicly criticising certain candidates. His remarks appeared to refer to comments by Donald Trump, who said it would be unacceptable for clerics to select Khamenei’s son Mojtaba as successor.

“Someone opposed by the enemy is more likely to benefit Iran and Islam,” Heidari Alekasir said.

The Israeli military warned it would continue pursuing every successor of Iran’s late supreme leader. In a post on X in Farsi, the Israeli military also said it would pursue every person who sought to appoint a successor for Khamenei.

In recent days, Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, emerged as an early frontrunner. His appointment is far from certain as critics would view the move as entrenching a regime accused by rights groups of killing at least 7,000 people in recent months. In addition, a father-to-son succession is also frowned upon within Iran’s Shia clerical establishment, particularly in a republic born from the overthrow of a monarchy in 1979.

Under Iran’s constitution, the 88-member Assembly of Experts is responsible for selecting the country’s supreme leader. Khamenei, who ruled Iran for 37 years, was killed in a US-Israeli strike on Tehran on 28 February.

The clerical meeting to appoint a new leader happened as fighting between Israel and Iran intensified over the weekend. Iranian strikes have hit energy infrastructure across the Gulf and Israeli attacks have targeted oil storage and fuel facilities inside Iran.

A fresh wave of Iranian strikes hit the Gulf on Sunday, with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait all reporting attacks. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted 15 drones, while strikes in Bahrain caused “material damage” to an important desalination plant.

According to reporting by the Washington Post, Fox News, and other US media organisations, Russia has been providing Iran with intelligence that could help it target US military assets in the region. The Guardian is unable to confirm this.

The recent attacks on Gulf states appear to highlight a clash within Iran’s leadership, contradicting remarks made on Saturday by the president, Masoud Pezeshkian, who apologised to countries on the Arabian peninsula and suggested strikes against them would end, provided their airspace and US bases were not used against Iran.

According to analysts, Pezeshkian’s pledge not to strike Gulf states exposed rare public rifts within the ruling elite with Iran’s leadership showing signs of strain, as officials of the regime scrambled to explain and reinterpret the president’s words, which appeared to anger the country’s more conservative factions.

Nonetheless, the Iranian military continued striking the neighbouring countries.

Overnight, US and Israeli strikes hit five oil facilities around Tehran, an Iranian official said, adding that the sites were damaged but the resulting fires were brought under control. Explosions in the capital’s nearby city of Karaj reverberated across the region, and left the area under smoke. Fuel depots on the outskirts of Tehran were set ablaze early on Sunday as US and Israeli forces widened their campaign against Iranian infrastructure.

The news agency Axios reported that the US and Israel had discussed sending special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium at a later stage of the war, according to four sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Throughout the day, Iran launched intermittent barrages of ballistic missiles towards Tel Aviv and central Israel. At least one person was seriously injured after a residential building was hit, according to Magen David Adom, the country’s ambulance service. Most of the missiles were intercepted by Israeli air defences and caused no casualties.

Meanwhile, Israel’s war on multiple fronts continued, with the Israel Defense Forces launching intense strikes on Lebanon, where the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah is based.

Israel’s assault on Lebanon left four people dead in a hotel blast in Beirut and killed a further 12 in strikes on southern areas of the country. Israel said it was targeting “key commanders” in the Iranian military’s Quds Force.

Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 339 people had been killed in the conflict. The Norwegian Refugee Council said about 300,000 people had fled their homes.

AFP contributed to this report

President Trump on Saturday launched the Shield of the Americas Summit – a coalition of Latin American leaders – with a pledge to “take care of Cuba,” as the United States increases its intervention in the region.

“Many of you have come today and they say, ‘I hope you can take care of Cuba.’ Because you have problems with Cuba, right?,” Trump said to the gathering of Latin American leadership.

“I was surprised, but four of you said, actually, ‘Could you do us a favor?’ Take care of Cuba.’ I’ll take care of it, ok?” he continued to applause from the crowd.

Attending the meeting were the leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago. The event was hosted at the Trump National Doral Miami golf course in Doral, Florida.

His comments follow tension between Cuba and U.S. and as many Cuban-Americans are hoping for a change in regime for the communist nation.

The Trump administration has eased a blockade of Venezuelan oil, allowing some private sector oil sales to Cuba. The country has been experiencing fuel shortages and blackouts that have left millions without power, according to The Associated Press.

Since the United States’ capture and arrest of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, in January, those who wish to see Cuba’s government toppled see Trump’s stance on foreign intervention as a signal that America might similarly help orchestrate the ouster of Cuba’s Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Speaking to the change in Venezuela’s leadership since Maduro’s capture, Trump praised acting-President Delcy Rodríguez for her cooperation with the United States.

“She’s doing a great job because she’s working with us. If she wasn’t working with us, I would not say she’s doing a great job. In fact, she wasn’t working with us, I’d say she’s doing a very poor job, unacceptable, but she’s doing a great job,” Trump said.

He continued that because of U.S. assistance, Venezuela’s economic picture was considerably sunnier because of American oil exports and forthcoming gold and mineral trades.

Trump has hailed the transition from Maduro’s leadership is the model for regime changes.

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