News | International
10 Mar 2026 7:57
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > International

    Israel expands Iran strikes as Tehran moves to name new supreme leader

    Israeli forces expand their bombardment of Iran, striking fuel depots near Tehran as the country moves closer to naming a new supreme leader.


    Israeli forces have expanded their bombardment of Iran, striking fuel depots near Tehran as the country moved closer to naming a new supreme leader.

    Members of the Assembly of Experts say the group has decided on the successor to Iran's slain supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

    While the name has yet to be announced, reports from Iran indicate it will be the late supreme leader's son, Mojtaba Khamenei.

    Israel's military threatened to kill any replacement for the late Khamenei, while US President Donald Trump said the war might only end once Iran's military and rulers had been wiped out.

    As fighting escalated on day nine of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, Bahrain said an Iranian attack had damaged one of its desalination plants — signalling a widening assault on vital infrastructure across the region.

    In southern Lebanon, two Israeli soldiers were killed in combat. They are the first Israeli troops to have died since fighting flared last week with the armed terrorist group Hezbollah.

    #explainercarousel-106408662

    Black smoke hangs over Tehran

    Thick, choking black smoke hung over Tehran on Sunday, residents said, after strikes on oil storage facilities had lit up the night sky with plumes of orange flame.

    Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the large-scale attack marked a "dangerous new phase" of the conflict and amounted to a war crime.

    "By targeting fuel depots, the aggressors are releasing hazardous materials and toxic substances into the air, poisoning civilians, devastating the environment, and endangering lives on a massive scale," he wrote on X.

    Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters the depots were used to fuel Iran's war effort, including producing or storing propellant for ballistic missiles.

    "They are a legal military target," he said.

    Shortly after the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would press on with the assault and strike Iran's rulers "without mercy".

    "We have an organised plan with many surprises to destabilise the regime and enable change," he said in a video statement.

    "We have many more targets."

    Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he was not interested in negotiating an end to the conflict that has sent energy prices skyward, hurt business and snarled global travel.

    "At some point, I don't think there will be anybody left maybe to say, 'We surrender'," he said.

    Iranian drones strike Gulf states

    The governments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain reported Iranian drone attacks in their countries on Saturday and early Sunday, with a huge fire engulfing a government office block in Kuwait.

    Kuwait's interior ministry said two of its officers were killed "while performing duties", while the UAE said four migrant workers had died in Iranian attacks there so far.

    Showing the intensity of the offensive, the UAE said air defence teams had knocked out 16 ballistic missiles and 113 drones fired towards the Gulf state on Sunday. One missile fell in the sea, and four drones hit the country's territories.

    Bahrain said on Sunday that an Iranian drone attack had caused "material damage" to a desalination plant, though the country's electricity and water authority said the strike had not disrupted water supplies.

    It was the first time an Arab country had said Iran targeted a desalination facility during the conflict.

    On Saturday, Iran said a US attack had struck a freshwater desalination plant on its Qeshm Island, disrupting water supplies in 30 villages, calling it "a dangerous move with grave consequences".

    Saudi Arabia has told Tehran that continued Iranian attacks on the kingdom and its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

    Lebanon has also been pulled into the conflict after the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into Israel last week, with nearly 400 people killed by Israel over the past week, the health ministry said.

    Israel killed at least four people when it struck a hotel in central Beirut on Sunday, saying it had targeted Iranian commanders operating in the city — the first such strike on the heart of the Lebanese capital — amid heavy bombardment of the southern suburbs and the country's south and east.

    Iran closer to naming new leader

    The clerical body tasked with choosing a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — killed just over a week ago in the early stages of the conflict — has reached a decision, but has not yet named the new leader.

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

    Mr Alamolhoda said the body's secretariat would announce the name later. Other assembly members confirmed that a decision had been made, with one suggesting the late leader's son would take the post.

    Another member of the council, Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, said in a video that a candidate had been selected based on Khamenei's guidance that Iran's top leader should be "hated by the enemy".

    Two Iranian sources told Reuters last week that the clear favourite was Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who amassed power under his father as a senior figure in the security forces and the vast business empire they control. Choosing him would signal that hardliners remain firmly in charge.

    Mr Trump has justified the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq by saying Tehran posed an imminent threat to the United States, without providing evidence. He has also said Iran was too close to being able to build a nuclear weapon.

    The US and Israel have discussed sending special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium at a later stage of the war, Axios reported, citing four people with knowledge of the discussions.

    Asked on Saturday about sending ground troops to secure nuclear sites, Mr Trump said it was something they could do "later on".

    The US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran's UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani.

    Iranian attacks have killed 10 people in Israel.

    At least six US service members have been killed, with Iran saying on Sunday it had struck US bases in Kuwait.

    ABC/wires

    [Audience callout]

    ABC




    © 2026 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

     Other International News
     10 Mar: War in the Middle East: Trump says Iran made 'big mistake' choosing Khamenei's son as leader
     10 Mar: Donald Trump says Iranian football players have been 'taken care of' in their bid for asylum
     09 Mar: Efforts to topple Iran's leadership may backfire and strengthen the regime, former US diplomat says
     09 Mar: Lebanon mass displacement causes anxiety for diaspora in Australia
     09 Mar: How Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are selling the Iran war to Americans
     09 Mar: Ukraine's war through the letters of its children
     09 Mar: What you need to know about Iran today, with Laura Tingle
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Zac Lomax has signed a two-year deal with the Western Force, with the rugby league outcast eying next year's World Cup with the Wallabies More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Some positive signs from international markets overnight More...



     Today's News

    Motoring:
    Tauranga's State Highway 29A has been closed near Oropi Road, while a diesel spill is cleared 7:47

    International:
    War in the Middle East: Trump says Iran made 'big mistake' choosing Khamenei's son as leader 7:37

    Entertainment:
    Donald Trump says Iranian football players have been 'taken care of' in their bid for asylum 7:37

    Business:
    Some positive signs from international markets overnight 7:37

    Motoring:
    The Red Bull Ampol panelbeaters are up against the clock to fix Broc Feeney's crashed car in time for transport to New Zealand for the next two rounds of Supercars, starting a month today in Taupo before moving to Christchurch 7:27

    Health & Safety:
    A central-Auckland hookah bar is under fire from inspectors for selling more shisha than food 7:17

    Law and Order:
    A High Court judge has explained why he overturned the jail sentence of former Gloriavale leader and child sex offender Howard Temple 7:07

    Law and Order:
    A Christchurch man who avoided trial on palliative grounds over 18 sexual abuse charges has been found living in Australia 6:27

    Business:
    The Government's working to stay ahead of the effects of the war in Iran 21:57

    International:
    Efforts to topple Iran's leadership may backfire and strengthen the regime, former US diplomat says 21:37


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd