Iran prepares to name new supreme leader as fuel dumps burn

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TEHRAN - Iran was preparing to reveal its new supreme leader on March 8, after US-Israeli air strikes destroyed fuel dumps and triggered fires that choked much of Tehran in a thick blanket of smoke.

The clerical body tasked with choosing a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – killed just over a week ago in strikes that triggered the war in the Middle East – has reached a decision, but not yet named the new leader.

“The vote to appoint the leader has taken place and the leader has been chosen,” said Mr Ahmad Alamolhoda, a member of the Assembly of Experts, as quoted by Iran’s Mehr news agency.

Mr Alamolhoda said the secretariat of the body would announce the name later.

Other assembly members confirmed a decision had been made, with one suggesting that the son of the late leader would take the post.

Israel, meanwhile, issued a stark warning that its forces would not hesitate to target the new chief and members of the Assembly of Experts that met to confirm him.

Its reach was underlined by two new operations overnight – strikes against fuel dumps in and around Tehran, and an attack on a hotel in the heart of Lebanon’s capital Beirut that targeted suspected Iranian commanders.

As the war extended into its ninth day, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had enough supplies to continue their aerial drone and missile war over the Middle East for up to six months.

US President Donald Trump again refused to rule out sending American ground troops into Iran, but continued to insist that the war was all but won despite the ongoing Iranian missile and drone strikes.

Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said Iran has so far used “first- and second-generation” missiles, but will use “advanced and less-used long-range missiles” in the coming days.

Saudi Arabia intercepted a wave of drones headed for targets, including the diplomatic quarter in the capital Riyadh. Kuwait said an attack hit fuel tanks at its international airport, and Bahrain reported that a water desalination plant had been damaged in an Iranian drone attack.

Warplanes hit five oil facilities in overnight strikes in and around the Iranian capital, killing four people, the chief executive of the national oil products distribution firm told state television.

Tehran’s governor told the IRNA news agency that fuel distribution had been “temporarily interrupted” in the capital while repairs were carried out.

A dark haze hung over the city as morning broke and a smell of burning lingered in the air.

The Israeli military confirmed that its air force had struck “fuel storage facilities in Tehran” to prevent their use by the government’s military.

‘Trapped’

Tehran has vowed to go after US assets in the region, and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait all reported new attacks on March 8.

Inside Iran, damage to infrastructure and residential areas is mounting as its people report growing anxiety and a heavy security presence.

“I don’t think anyone who hasn’t experienced war would understand it,” a 26-year-old teacher told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Iran’s Health Ministry said on March 8 that at least 1,200 civilians had been killed and around 10,000 people wounded – figures AFP could not independently verify.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 394 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes over the past week, prompting Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to warn of a looming “humanitarian disaster”.

Mr Trump, meanwhile, attended the return of the bodies of six American service members killed on March 1 in a drone strike on a US base in Kuwait.

No clear way out

Analysts warn there is still no clear path to ending a conflict that US and Israeli officials say could last a month or longer.

Mr Trump has suggested that Iran’s economy could be rebuilt if a leader “acceptable” to Washington replaces the late supreme leader, which Tehran has rejected.

China and Russia have largely stayed on the sidelines despite close ties with Tehran.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said on March 8 that the war in the Middle East should “never have happened”.

“This is a war that should never have happened,” he told a press conference in Beijing, adding that “a strong fist does not mean strong reason. The world cannot return to the law of the jungle”. AFP