Iran names Khamenei’s son Mojtaba as new supreme leader

Iran appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader on Sunday, the Associated Press and Reuters reported, citing Iranian state media.

Khamenei is the son of the late Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a volley at the start of the war. He was considered the top candidate for the role. Khamenei ruled Iran from 1989 until his death.

Khamenei’s appointment gives him command of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and other hardline groups.

The Revolutionary Guards issued a statement expressing support, and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah shared a portrait of a young Khamenei in a telegram with the caption “Blessed Leader of the Islamic Revolution,” the Associated Press reported.

The selection ensures that hardliners retain control of the Iranian government and is a direct affront to US President Donald Trump, who has insisted that the US has a role in approving the next leader.

President Trump previously called Mojtaba Khamenei a “lightweight.”

He previously threatened that Tehran’s new leadership would be short-lived if decisions were made without his approval.

“He’s going to have to get our approval,” Trump told ABC News. “If he doesn’t get our confirmation, he won’t have a long term in office. We don’t want to have to come back every 10 years. We can’t do that unless we have a president like me.”

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

The Israel Defense Forces, which is leading the attack on Iran along with the United States, said on Sunday it would “pursue any successor and anyone who attempts to appoint a successor.”

“We would like to warn all of you who are planning to participate in the successor selection meeting that we will not hesitate to target you. This is a warning!” the IDF said in a Farsi-language post to X.

Iran’s neighbors in the Gulf reported further damage to their infrastructure over the weekend, as Iran continued its attacks on regional allies in retaliation for continued attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces.

The United Arab Emirates said it was “addressing the missile and drone threat from Iran.”

“The UAE’s air defense forces are currently responding to missile and drone threats from Iran,” the country’s Ministry of Defense said in a post on X.

He said defense installations were intercepting ballistic missiles while fighter jets were dealing with drones and “loitering munitions.”

Alarms sounded across Dubai and Abu Dhabi on Saturday night, warning residents to “immediately seek safe haven” due to a missile threat, and a CNBC team confirmed hearing loud explosions.

23 Marina, a high-rise building in Dubai’s Marina district, was hit by falling debris. According to the Dubai Media Office, there were no injuries, but authorities confirmed that “debris from an aerial interception fell on a vehicle in Al Barsha area, killing a Pakistani driver.”

Also on Saturday, passengers waiting for flights at Dubai International Airport were directed into a train tunnel. Iran announced that it had attacked an air base in the United Arab Emirates.

Since the war began on February 28, Iran has targeted several radars and air defenses in the Middle East, including Qatar, UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, military analysts and commercially available satellite imagery.

U.S. crude oil soared above $100 a barrel Sunday evening as the Middle East’s major energy producers cut production as the crucial Strait of Hormuz remains impassable due to war.

West Texas Intermediate soared 18.98%, or $17.25, to $108.15 a barrel by 6:12 p.m. ET. Brent, the global benchmark, rose 16.19%, or $15.01, to $107.70.

U.S. crude oil rose about 35% last week, the biggest gain in futures trading since 1983.

The last time oil prices exceeded $100 a barrel was after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The fighting in the Gulf caused major disruption to oil markets as the strait, which carries about 20% of the world’s oil production, was effectively shut down. This bottleneck prevents Gulf countries from exporting oil.

Kuwait, OPEC’s fifth-largest producer, announced on Saturday that it would preemptively cut oil production and refinery output, citing “Iran’s threat to the safe navigation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.” The state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has not provided details on the scale of production cuts.

Production in Iraq, OPEC’s second largest producer, has virtually collapsed. Output from three major oil fields in the south fell by 70% to 1.3 million barrels a day, three industry sources told Reuters on Sunday. These fields were producing 4.3 million barrels per day before the Iran War.

And the United Arab Emirates, OPEC’s third-largest producer, said on Saturday it was “carefully managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements.” Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said onshore operations were continuing as normal.

The average price of gasoline in the U.S. has jumped to more than $3.46 per gallon from an average of $2.94 a week ago, according to GasBuddy, due to higher oil prices.

President Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright have sought to reassure Americans that rising fuel prices are just a short-term problem.

In a post on Truth Social Sunday night, President Trump said, “Near-term oil prices will fall quickly once Iran’s nuclear threat is destroyed, but it will be a very small price to pay for America, the world, security and peace.” “Only a fool would think otherwise!”

Mr Wright said on the same day that the disruption would last “weeks, not months”.

“I believe this is a small price to pay for a world where energy prices return to normal,” Wright said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “Iran is finally free of attack and will now be able to invest more, trade more freely, and be less likely to threaten its energy supplies.”

Bahrain announced on Sunday that a drone strike had hit a desalination plant.

“Iran’s aggression has indiscriminately attacked civilians and caused significant damage to a desalination plant following a drone attack,” Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said in a post on X.

Bahrain’s electricity and water authorities said in a statement to CNBC that “Iran’s attack on a desalination plant has not affected the water supply or the capacity of the water network.”

The country said “blatant Iranian aggression” damaged a university building in the Muharraq region and injured three people when missile fragments fell.

Meanwhile, Iran accused the United States of attacking a seawater desalination facility in the country. Foreign Minister Abbas Aragushi said in a social media post that the US “committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a desalination plant on Qeshm Island. The water supply of 30 villages has been affected.”

“Attacking Iranian infrastructure is a dangerous act with serious consequences,” Araghchi said.

U.S. Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for Central Command, told MS NOW that Arraguchi’s claims are false.

“The Iranian regime is doing everything it can to spread lies and deceive,” Hawkins said. “This is the same terrorist regime that has attacked 12 countries and continues to intentionally target civilian airports, hotels, and neighborhoods in those countries. The U.S. military is not targeting civilians.”

Elsewhere, Kuwait announced that two fuel depots at its international airport had been attacked by drones, causing “a major fire in one of them.” The country’s social security agency said its headquarters had been targeted, causing “significant damage” to the building.

Meanwhile, Israeli and US attacks on Iran continued into the weekend.

Israel announced that it had attacked multiple fuel storage facilities belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. “This attack significantly exacerbated the damage to the Iranian terrorist regime’s military infrastructure,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X.

The IDF also said it had attacked “the main commander of the Lebanese Corps of the Revolutionary Guards Quds Force operating in Beirut.”

Arab foreign ministers on Sunday strongly condemned Iran’s attacks on neighboring countries, calling them a “grave threat to international peace and security.”

In a communiqué following the virtual talks, ministers expressed support for “measures taken by the Gulf states, along with Jordan and Iraq, to ​​deter and respond to these aggressions.”

The ministers called on Iran to immediately halt its attacks and cease “provocations and threats against neighboring countries.” They called on the UN Security Council to condemn Iran and force an “immediate and unconditional cessation of attacks” on Arab countries.

The Ministers also expressed support for the Lebanese government’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah and called on the international community to pressure Israel to immediately end its attacks on Lebanon.

The communiqué does not mention the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that triggered the war.

U.S. Central Command reported in a post on X that another U.S. service member has been killed in action in the war, bringing the total number of deaths to eight.

The New York City Police Department announced in a statement to

On Saturday, President Trump joined grieving families at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to participate in the dignified relocation of six American soldiers killed in the Middle East war.

The dignified transfer is a ceremonial return of the remains of American soldiers killed in action and is considered one of the commander-in-chief’s most solemn duties.

“It’s a very sad day,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One when he returned to Florida later that day. “I’m glad to be able to pay my respects.”

More than 1,850 people have been killed since the conflict began. The conflict has left at least 1,330 Iranian civilians dead and more than 100,000 Iranians displaced.

394 people were killed in Lebanon. 15 people died in Israel. Kuwait reported 11 deaths. Four people died in the United Arab Emirates. Three people died in Oman. Two people died in Saudi Arabia. One death was reported in Bahrain, according to figures compiled by MS NOW.

—CNBC’s Spencer Kimball, Terry Cullen, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.