Trump predicts brief tenure for Iran's new leader without his backing

US President Donald Trump issued a warning to Iran's upcoming supreme leader on Sunday, stating that their tenure would be short-lived without his approval, as Tehran prepared to announce the successor to the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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Nine days after the US-Israeli strikes on Khamenei's compound, which resulted in his death and plunged the Middle East into war, Iran's Assembly of Experts convened in private and selected their next leader, according to members of the body.

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The clerics refrained from disclosing the chosen individual's name, merely stating that an announcement would be made soon, with some speculating that Khamenei's 56-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, would succeed his father.

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Trump had previously demanded a say in the appointment and dismissed the younger Khamenei as an unacceptable "lightweight", stating "He's going to have to get approval from us" and "If he doesn't get approval from us he's not going to last long" in an interview with ABC News on Sunday.

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Tehran's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, countered earlier in the day that the decision was Iran's alone and that they would "allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs", also demanding that Trump "apologise to people of the region" for the escalating war during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press".

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The younger Khamenei is perceived as a conservative figure due to his ties to the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic's military, and Israel's military has warned any successor that "we will not hesitate to target you".

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Israel's reach was highlighted by two new operations carried out overnight, including 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.

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Warplanes hit five oil facilities around the Iranian capital, resulting in the deaths of at least four people, according to a state oil executive, and shrouding the city in acrid smoke, with Tehran's governor reporting that fuel distribution had been "temporarily interrupted" in the capital.

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A dark haze hung over the city of 10 million people, blocking out the sun, while the smell of burning fuel lingered in the air, prompting authorities to warn that the fumes could be toxic and urging citizens to stay indoors.

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A 35-year-old resident of Tehran described the situation, stating "The blaze has been burning for more than 12 hours, the air has become unbreathable, I can't even go out to do the daily shopping", and expressed a change of heart regarding the war, saying "At first, I supported this war, after Khamenei's death, I celebrated with my friends, we drank wine and we danced, but since yesterday… people say there's not even any gasoline left at the gas stations".

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As the war entered its ninth day, Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed they had sufficient supplies to continue their drone and missile war over the Middle East for up to six months, and several blasts were heard over Israel's commercial hub of Tel Aviv after the Israeli military detected a salvo of missiles from Iran.

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The Magen David Adom emergency services reported that six people were wounded in central Israel, and Trump again refused to rule out sending US ground troops into Iran, insisting that the war was all but won despite the ongoing Iranian missile and drone strikes.

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Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday, discussing military cooperation, after previously lobbing insults at the premier and accusing him of trying to join a war "we've already won", with London stating that the pair's conversation focused on military cooperation.

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Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini announced that Iran had so far used only first- and second-generation missiles, but would employ "advanced and less-used long-range missiles" in the coming days, and Saudi Arabia reported that two people were killed and 12 wounded by a "projectile" on Sunday in Al Kharj province.

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Kuwait reported an attack on fuel tanks at its international airport, and Bahrain stated that a water desalination plant had been damaged, while Iran's health ministry claimed that at least 1,200 civilians had been killed and around 10,000 wounded, figures that could not be independently verified.

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Lebanon's health minister reported that at least 394 people had been killed in Israeli air strikes since Lebanon was dragged into the war a week ago, including 83 children and 42 women, and two Israeli soldiers were killed during the fighting in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli military.

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Trump attended the return of the bodies of six American service members who were killed in a drone strike on a US base in Kuwait last Sunday, and analysts warn that there is still no clear path to ending a conflict that US and Israeli officials say could last a month or longer.

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Trump suggested that Iran's economy could be rebuilt if a leader "acceptable" to Washington replaces the late supreme leader, and China and Russia have largely stayed on the sidelines despite close ties with Tehran, with China's top diplomat Wang Yi stating that the war in the Middle East "should never have happened".

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On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV prayed "that the roar of the bombs may cease, the weapons may fall silent, and a space for dialogue may open", as the conflict continued with no clear resolution in sight.