(AFP) – Here are the latest events in the Middle East war on Monday:
– **’Wide-scale’ Iran strikes** – The Israeli military said it had launched new “wide-scale” strikes on Tehran, Isfahan, and southern Iran. AFP journalists had earlier reported heavy explosions rocking the Iranian capital.
– **Rally for new ayatollah** – Thousands flocked to a central square in Tehran in a show of support for Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, appointed as Iran’s supreme leader on the death of his father in US-Israeli strikes, AFP journalists saw.
– **US urges citizens out of south Turkey** – Washington has advised non-essential staff to leave its consulate near the southern Turkish city of Adana, near a key NATO base, and ordered US citizens to leave southeast Turkey, in the latest pullout of US consular services of the war.
– **US, Israel ‘despair’** – Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani said on Monday that the election of Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father had left Israel and the United States in “despair”.
– **Putin backs new ayatollah** – Russia’s President Vladimir Putin pledged his “unwavering support” to Khamenei. “At a time when Iran is confronting armed aggression, your tenure in this high position will undoubtedly require great courage and dedication,” the Russian leader added.
– **G7 to talk oil reserves** – French President Emmanuel Macron said the G7 will discuss a possible release of strategic oil reserves, as the Middle East war caused crude prices to steam past $100 a barrel.
– **One killed in Israel** – Israel’s first responders said a man was killed by shrapnel and another person severely wounded as several blasts rocked central Israel, shortly after the military reported detecting new missiles launched from Iran. More than 10 explosions were also heard by AFP journalists in Tel Aviv.
– **Iran blames Europe** – Iran said European countries, including France, had created the conditions that led to the United States and Israel attacking the Islamic republic, accusing them of not standing up to Washington’s “bullying”.
– **Qatar arrests 313** – Qatari authorities have arrested more than 300 people for sharing images and “misleading information” during days of attacks by Iran, the interior ministry said.
– **Israel strikes Lebanon** – An air strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, with live AFPTV footage showing large plumes of smoke rising from the area, after Israel warned it would target branches of a firm linked to Hezbollah. The Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group earlier said it was engaging Israeli forces who landed in eastern Lebanon overnight by helicopter across the Syrian border.
– **Stocks fall** – European stock markets slid at the open on the back of surging energy prices caused by the war, after Japan’s Nikkei index of stocks closed down more than five percent and South Korea’s Kospi by nearly six percent.
– **China on new leader** – China said it opposes any targeting of Iran’s new supreme leader after the Israeli military threatened to target any successor to his slain father, Ali Khamenei. The younger Khamenei’s appointment was purely an internal matter, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters.
– **European gas spikes** – European gas prices soared as much as 30 percent. The Dutch TTF natural gas contract, considered the European benchmark, jumped to 69.50 euros ($80), before paring gains slightly.
– **Bahrain oil force majeure** – An Iranian strike targeting Bahrain’s sprawling Al Ma’ameer oil facility caused a fire at the complex, along with material damage, state media said. After waves of Iranian strikes targeted the country’s energy installations, Bahrain’s state-owned Bapco energy company declared force majeure — the latest Gulf producer to activate the legal clause.
– **HRW: Israel used white phosphorus** – Human Rights Watch accused Israel of “unlawfully” using white phosphorus over residential parts of the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor last week. White phosphorus, a substance that ignites on contact with oxygen, can be used as an incendiary weapon and can cause fires, horrific burns, respiratory damage, organ failure, and death.
© 2024 AFP
