US President Donald Trump has told Fox News he is ‘not happy’ about Iran’s decision to select Mojtaba Khamenei as its new Supreme Leader.
French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile has announced an ambitious plan to deploy two warships to the Strait of Hormuz amid increasing fears over surging oil and gas prices.
Speaking in Cyprus, President Macron said the ‘purely defensive mission’ led by France and its allies would protect oil and gas shipments through the waterway where traffic has been choked off following the war with Iran.
The French leader said he wanted to see an ‘unprecedented’ naval force of European and non-European ships in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and off the Strait of Hormuz consisting of a total of eight frigates, two helicopter carriers and the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.
It comes as oil prices surged to more than $100 per barrel for the first time in four years as major producers cut supplies over fears of prolonged shipping disruption.
An emergency meeting of the G7 was held in Paris earlier with crisis options including the release of oil reserves discussed but no final decision has been made.
Elsewhere the US Navy has reportedly an Iranian warship and two other vessels in the Persian Gulf. Sources say the ships were struck during strikes on the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. Video and pictures circulating on social media show flames and huge plumes of smoke blowing from the ships.
And Donald Trump has said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make a ‘mutual’ decision on when to end the war with Iran as Pete Hegseth guaranteed Tehran ‘will surrender’.
Follow the latest updates on the US-Israel war with Iran
