What we covered
• Iran’s new leader: Slain longtime ruler Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba has been named the country’s next supreme leader. US President Donald Trump previously said Mojtaba would be an “unacceptable” choice.
• Regional attacks: Gulf states reported fresh aerial strikes, with dozens wounded in Bahrain. A seventh US service member has died in Saudi Arabia.
• War not abating : Israel said it launched new strikes on Beirut and central Iran, while Tehran announced new missile launches hours after it named its new leader. Trump said he will decide, together with Israel, when the war will end.
• School strike: New video appears to confirm a US airstrike targeted a naval base next to an Iranian school. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US was “still investigating,” while Trump is pointing the finger at Iran.
• Oil shock roils markets: Asian markets sank as oil surged past $100 per barrel, a four-year high.
Tel Aviv home destroyed by missile strike
This home in Tel Aviv was turned into rubble in a missile attack, as Iran and Israel continued to trade strikes.
CNN’s Oren Liebermann takes a look at the damage.
Fears for Iranian women’s soccer team after Asian Cup loss
Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s exiled former crown prince, has called on the Australia government to ensure the safety of the Iranian women’s football team, after its exit from the Women’s Asian Cup on Sunday night.
Video posted to social media showed protesters against the Iranian regime surrounding the team’s bus and yelling “save our girls,” as the players left the stadium on Queensland’s Gold Coast after their 0-2 loss to the Philippines.
Supporters fear that any return to Iran will put the women in danger after state media labeled them “traitors” for standing silent during the Iranian national anthem before a match last Monday.
The act, which was interpreted as a gesture of defiance against the regime, came two days after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran.
Sources told CNN that the team was forced to salute and sing the Iranian national anthem on Thursday ahead of the group stage match against host Australia. The women also sang the anthem and gave a military salute before Sunday’s defeat.
Iran coach Marziyeh Jafari told reporters after the Sunday match that the team was keen to return home. “Personally, I would like to return to my country as soon as possible and be with my compatriots and family,” she said.
For the Iranian team, any flight home would be fraught with danger and delay, given airspace closures. But having angered Iran’s leaders, supporters say they face an even greater risk of being punished for “treason.”
When asked on Sunday if there’d been any contact between Australian officials and the Iranian players, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she didn’t want to “get into commentary about the Iranian women’s team.”
“We stand in solidarity with the men and women of Iran and particularly Iranian women and girls,” she told the ABC.
Investor jitters deepen in Asia as war sends fuel prices skyrocketing
Asian markets sank on Monday as investor jitters deepened over the ongoing war in the Middle East, which sent oil prices to a four-year high and threatened import-dependent major economies in the region.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index tumbled 7% in the early hours of trading on Monday, while South Korea’s Kospi plummeted 7.8%. Taiwan’s Taiex slumped 5.8%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 3.1%.
Israel announces new strikes on Iran and Beirut
Israel has launched a new wave of strikes on central Iran and has struck Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut, its military said Monday morning.
Dozens wounded in Bahrain as Gulf states report more attacks
Countries across the Persian Gulf are reporting more incoming aerial attacks Monday morning.
Here’s what we’re hearing.
Bahrain: At least 32 people were wounded, four seriously, when Iranian drone strikes hit Sitra, about 5 kilometers south of the capital in the early hours Monday, the kingdom’s National Communication Centre told CNN. The attacks targeted civilian residential areas close to energy infrastructure and “caused significant damage,” according to the NCC. Children are among the wounded, including a 2-month-old infant, two young boys and a 17-year-old girl, it added.
United Arab Emirates: A CNN team on the ground in Abu Dhabi reported loud booms Monday morning and said it was some of the loudest bangs they’ve heard since the start of the war. The country’s disaster management authority issued an alert saying air defense systems were responding to a missile threat.
Kuwait: A drone was shot down by Kuwait’s National Guard early Monday “at one of the sites under its protection.” The force said it shot down the drone “as part of efforts to secure vital facilities.”
Qatar: Armed forces intercepted a missile attack Monday morning, the Ministry of Defense said in a post on X.
Trump says he will decide, with Israel, when Iran war ends
US President Donald Trump said he will decide, together with Israel, when to end the war with Iran.
In a brief telephone interview with The Times of Israel, Trump said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be part of the decision but that Washington will have the final say.
“I think it’s mutual… a little bit,” Trump told the independent online news outlet. “We’ve been talking. I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account.”
Asked if Israel could continue the war after the US decides to halt its strikes, Trump added: “I don’t think it’s going to be necessary.”
Iran's new supreme leader likely to be "transitional figure," analyst says
Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of Iran’s slain longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, has inherited an impossible job and is likely to be a “transitional figure,” CNN’s global affairs analyst said after he was named the country’s next supreme leader.
“He’s inheriting a government that is at war with the greatest superpower in the world, the United States, the greatest military power in the Middle East, Israel, and his own society,” said Karim Sadjadpour, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Sadjadpour added that Mojtaba is currently injured and living in hiding, “with a bull’s eye on his back” and that people in Iran “have started chanting (for his) death.”
Earlier this year, anti-government protests also broke out across the country and authorities launched a brutal crackdown on the people who took to the streets.
“I asked someone who’s known him for a long time how on earth is he going to govern? And he said he’s not focused on governing, he’s focused on surviving,” Sadjadpour said.
“He’s, at best… going to be a transitional figure for Iran,” he said.
Should we stay or go? Tehran resident says family divided and terrified during relentless airstrikes
One resident of Tehran tells CNN that he and his wife are split on whether to leave the city as the war with the US and Israel intensifies.
The Israeli strikes on fuel depots on Saturday night were the “heaviest bombardments since the start of the war,” he said.
But he doesn’t want to leave. He’s worried about his coworkers. He also believes that there may be a chance to take to the streets again, the way Iranians did in January during massive anti-government protests.
But as the war wears on, regime supporters are also emboldened, he said. Every night in Tehran, pro-government Iranians have held gatherings similar to “car rallies,” waving the Iranian flag and chanting political slogans.
Oil prices have soared past $100 a barrel. Catch up on the headlines
The price of oil surged past $100 per barrel on Sunday, the first time it crossed that mark since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Oil futures and gasoline prices have skyrocketed as traders worry that the war with Iran will lead to prolonged restrictions on the flow of oil around the globe.
Here are more headlines on the war:
Trump’s comments: President Donald Trump dismissed concerns over rising oil prices, calling it a “very small price to pay.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Trump to tap into the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the world’s largest stockpile of emergency oil, in an effort to lower energy prices.
Fresh missile launches: Hours after Iran named its new supreme leader, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced new missile launches. This also comes a day after Israel launched attacks targeting Tehran’s energy resources.
Strike on Iran school: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US was still investigating a strike on an Iranian school that killed at least 168 children. President Donald Trump had told reporters he believed Iran was responsible for the strike.
Personnel told to leave: The State Department ordered non-emergency diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia — a reflection of the risks facing US personnel as the conflict continues. A US service member died after sustaining injuries during an attack last week in Saudi Arabia.
Iran’s key power centers react: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and hardliners have swiftly rallied behind Mojtaba Khamenei after he was named Iran’s next supreme leader.
Hegseth says US sets terms of surrender with Iran
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an interview that aired Sunday that the United States and President Donald Trump will set “the terms of surrender” with Iran, without offering specifics on what those terms might be.
Trump said last week that “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
Asked on CBS’ “60 Minutes” what “unconditional surrender” looks like, Hegseth said, “It means we’re fightin’ to win. It means we set the terms. We’ll know when they’re not capable of fighting. There’ll be a point where they’ll have no choice but to do that. Whether they know it or not, they will be combat-ineffective. They will surrender.”
Hegseth said that surrender can look a lot of different ways, including person-to-person, but that Trump is the one who will ultimately set the terms, not the Iranians.
“Whether they want to admit it or not, whether their pride lets them say it out loud or not — it’s President Trump who will set the terms of that,” Hegseth said.
Top Senate Democrat calls on Trump to tap US strategic oil reserve to lower prices
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on President Donald Trump to tap into the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the world’s largest stockpile of emergency oil, in an effort to lower energy prices amid the war in Iran.
“The Strategic Petroleum Reserve exists for moments exactly like this,” Schumer said in a statement Sunday. “When wars and global crises disrupt energy markets, the United States has the ability to act, but President Trump and his administration are refusing to do so.”
The New York Democrat’s comments comes after Trump dismissed concerns over rising prices as oil surged past $100 a barrel on Sunday. Since the fighting started in Iran a week ago, gasoline prices are up 47 cents, or 16%, to $3.45 for a gallon of regular, according to Sunday’s AAA reading.
“American families are suffering from higher prices as the effects of Trump’s reckless war become pain at the gas pump and beyond as high gas prices trickle down making everything more expensive,” Schumer said.
The president told Reuters last week that he is not looking to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is held in a network of underground salt caverns in Louisiana and Texas.
What to know about the Assembly of Experts, the body that selects a new supreme leader
A body of 88 senior clerics, known as the Assembly of Experts, selected the new supreme leader.
The members of the Assembly of Experts, which is elected by the Iranian public every eight years, are vetted by the Guardian Council, a separate body of 12 jurists that oversees the activities of Iran’s parliament.
In normal times, the Guardian Council determines if legislation passed by the parliament is compatible with sharia law, and it often demands revisions. It also approves candidates for parliament, the presidency and the Assembly of Experts.
It is known for disqualifying candidates for the presidency. Ahead of the 2021 election, for instance, the Guardian Council barred over 600 applicants, including all the women, as well as senior figures such as Ali Larijani, Iran’s top national security official.
The Assembly of Experts had been meeting virtually, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency earlier this week. The elected body of 88 senior clerics has been holding remote meetings after Israel struck compounds belonging to the assembly this week. State media said US-Israeli strikes hit the Assembly of Experts compound in Tehran on Monday, and on Tuesday, Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin confirmed a hit on the compound in Qom.
No assembly session was being held in the building at the time of the strike, according to Fars.
IRGC announces new missile launches hours after Iran names new supreme leader
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced new missile launches hours after the country named its new supreme leader.
Video published by the IRGC shows what it said was the moment it fired Khorramshahr, Fatah, Khyber and Qadr missile. CNN is unable to verify the video.
Iran’s Assembly of Experts earlier named Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as the next supreme leader.
Analysts say his elevation suggests that the IRGC and their allied factions have emerged from the first phase of the current war more determined to double down on continuing Ali Khamenei’s legacy and policies.
Hegseth: US "still investigating" whether it was responsible for strike on Iranian school
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an interview that aired Sunday that the United States was still investigating a strike on an Iranian school that killed at least 168 children.
“We’re still investigating, and that’s where I’ll leave it today. But what I will emphasize to you and to the world is that unlike our adversaries, the Iranians, we never target civilians,” Hegseth told CBS’ “60 Minutes” in the interview, which was conducted Friday.
Hegseth did not dismiss reports indicating the US was likely responsible, saying, “I’ve already said we’re investigating.”
However, one day after the interview was conducted, President Donald Trump told reporters he believed Iran was responsible for the strike.
Hegseth, who was standing next to Trump on Air Force One during the comments, maintained his response that the United States was still investigating.
But he added, “The only side that targets civilians is Iran.”
"A lot" at stake with new supreme leader's next moves, CNN analyst says
CNN’s national security analyst Alex Plitsas said the moments after Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment as Iran’s new supreme leader and as his father’s successor will be telling.
“Is he going to step to the microphone and announce what the new policies are?” Plitsas told CNN’s Jessica Dean on Sunday. “Is he going to attempt to avenge his father’s death?”
“A lot sort of rests on this moment,” he added.
Plitsas said that while little is known in the public space about Mojtaba Khamenei, his views are largely conservative and there are indications he supported hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as well as Iran’s acquiring of a nuclear weapon.
“So if all of that is actually true, that’s obviously very problematic and is not a policy prescription to get this war to end quickly,” Plitsas said.
But he noted that “no one really knows where he stands on the issues right now.”
Plitsas also noted that during the leadership transition to Venezuela, there was initially “a little bit of back-and-forth comments” but “then it sort of worked itself out.”
“So it’s a difficult moment,” he added.
The US has yet to react to the supreme leader’s appointment. On Thursday, Trump had told Axios that the Ayatollah’s son as his successor was “unacceptable,” and he warned earlier today that a new leader won’t “last long” without his support.
Remember: Venezuela’s leader Delcy Rodríguez initially condemned the US capture of Nicolás Maduro as a “barbarity” and a blatant violation of the country’s sovereignty. She backpedaled with a more conciliatory tone the next day, offering an “agenda of cooperation” with the United States.
CNN’s Mauricio Torres and Christian Edwards contributed to this report.
State Department orders non-emergency diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia
The State Department on Sunday ordered non-emergency diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia — a reflection of the risks facing US personnel as the conflict in the region continues.
The move comes as US diplomatic and military facilities have come under attack as Iran retaliates for US and Israeli military operations.
A US service member has died after sustaining injuries during an attack last week in Saudi Arabia, the military said Sunday. The US Embassy in Riyadh, including the CIA station, was hit by multiple suspected Iranian drones last week, sources told CNN.
The State Department had already authorized non-emergency US government personnel and family members to voluntarily leave Saudi Arabia, but now they are required to depart. Emergency personnel will remain.
Saudi Arabia is the latest country where non-emergency US personnel have been ordered to depart. Following the start of the war with Iran, the State Department has ordered the departure of non-emergency personnel from Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and the consulates in Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan.
It has suspended operations at its embassy in Kuwait. A State Department spokesperson said the decision was made “for security and operational considerations to protect the safety of personnel.”
Trump says higher oil prices "very small price to pay" in war with Iran
President Donald Trump dismissed concerns over rising oil prices as the price of oil surged past $100 a barrel on Sunday.
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Lowering gas prices was one of the successes of the Trump administration, but now officials are telling Americans to wait a few weeks for those prices to return amid the war in Iran. CNN's Kit Maher reports.
Sunday marked the first time oil crossed the $100-a-barrel mark since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as investors worried the war in Iran would mean prolonged restrictions on Middle Eastern oil flows.
Trump frequently touted lowering gas prices in speeches from the White House and across the country. Since the fighting started in Iran a week ago, gasoline prices are up 47 cents, or 16%, to $3.45 for a gallon of regular, according to Sunday’s AAA reading.
The president and administration officials are attempting to allay worries over rising gas prices, with White House officials hitting the Sunday news shows earlier to argue the spikes would be a short-term issue.
“Gasoline today is still $1.50 a gallon cheaper than it was in the middle of Biden administration, but you’re right; we want it back below $3 a gallon, and it will be again before too long,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
And White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described rising costs at the pump as “a short-term disruption.”
Iran's IRGC, political hardliners back appointment of new supreme leader
Iran’s key power centers have swiftly rallied behind Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei after his election by the Assembly of Experts on Monday to succeed his slain father, Ali Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader.
In the announcement, the Assembly urged Iranians to maintain unity and pledge allegiance to the new leader, adding that the decision was made despite external pressure and security threats.
Senior political figure Ali Larijani echoed those words, saying that the assembly convened even after what he described as threats from US President Donald Trump to bomb the gathering.
“By martyring Imam Khamenei, the enemies thought the country would reach a dead end,” Larijani said in remarks carried by Iranian state media. “But through a legal process, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei was elected as leader.” Larijani added that the new supreme leader is capable of guiding the country through this “sensitive period.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement that they’re ready to “fully obey and sacrifice their lives” for the ‘divine orders” of the new leader. As the most powerful institution in Iran outside the supreme leader himself, the IRGC backing signals the likelihood of a stable transition.
Iran’s parliament speaker welcomed Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment, calling it a “religious and national duty” to follow the new leader. Iran’s Foreign Ministry has also declared its allegiance.
The swift pledges of loyalty from Iran’s political and military establishment appear aimed at projecting stability and continuity following the killing of their longtime leader and amid the escalating war with the US and Israel.
Ali Khamenei's son is "unfortunate" pick for Iran's new leader, former CIA director says
Former CIA director David Petraeus said Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment as Iran’s supreme leader is “unfortunate.”
“We assume that he will be a continuation of what his father was, which is a very hard line ideological cleric,” he told CNN’s Jessica Dean on Sunday.
“I don’t think he’s even an ayatollah unless he just got promoted very recently, which also happened for his father, by the way he was not that prominent when he was selected several decades ago.”
Petraeus said many had hoped for a leader who was “more pragmatic” and might show a willingness to acquiesce to US demands, like giving up on the country’s nuclear and missile programs.
“And that does not appear to be the case right now, unless, of course, he emerges as someone different when he actually is in power,” Petraeus said.
Some context: Mojtaba, 56, is Khamenei’s second son and is known to wield significant influence behind the scenes and has strong links with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the most powerful military body in the country, as well as its Basij volunteer paramilitary force. Mojtaba is not a high-ranking cleric and has no official role in the regime.
The assembly has chosen a new leader only once before since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. It was when Ali Khamenei was hastily selected following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
