LIVE Trump ‘not happy’ with Kahmenei’s son as Iran new Supreme Leader

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.

Khamenei has previously been branded ‘unacceptable’ by Trump who last week made his feelings clear about the Ayatollah’s son.

Trump said somewhat sarcastically that ‘at some point they’ll be calling me to ask who I’d like’ to replace the Ayatollah.

The president has said he would personally select a new leader and Khamenei’s son was ‘unlikely’ and ‘unacceptable’.

Khamenei, excluded from a list of three senior clerics his father reportedly identified last year, was on Sunday announced as the Ayatollah’s successor after being appointed by the regime’s 88-person assembly.

The leader has strong links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was chosen by Iran’s Assembly of Experts ‘under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards’, according to Iranian media.

The US-Israel war with Iran has entered its tenth day with mayhem continuing across the Middle East since the fighting began last month.

If you’re just joining us, French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a plan to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help oil and gas supplies flow through the passage once again

The US Navy has reportedly attacked an Iranian warship and two other vessels in the Persian Gulf.

Meanwhile, oil prices are surging worldwide as global markets slid today and Donald Trump has declared he and Benjamin Netanyahu will make a ‘mutual’ decision on when to end the war.

Here are the key developments on Monday afternoon.

• France has announced plans to deploy eight warships to the Middle East in a ‘purely defensive’ mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz
• An Iranian warship and two other vessels have reportedly been attacked by the US Navy during airstrikes on the port city of Bandar Abbas
• NATO have shot down a second Iranian missile in Turkish airspace
• Oil prices rise to above $100 a barrel for first time in four years as global markets slid at the start of trading
• Donald Trump says he and Benjamin Netanyahu will make ‘mutual’ decision on when to end Iran war
• Vladimir Putin offers ‘unwavering support’ to Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei
• Bahrain’s only oil refinery has been struck by an Iranian missile as Tehran targets energy installations across the Gulf
• The UAE confirmed two members of its armed forces were killed in a helicopter crash when the aircraft malfunctioned during the defence against Iranian drones
• Pete Hegseth, the US Defense Secretary, last night guaranteed Iran will ‘surrender’ and President Donald Trump will set the terms of their defeat
• Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, was selected by the country’s Assembly of Experts to succeed his father
• Iranian state television has reported Khamenei is ‘wounded’ but did not elaborate on how the injuries were caused
• The US has identified the seventh solider killed during Operation Epic Fury

At the same time as the Defence Secretary was addressing the Commons, the MoD confirmed the ‘defensive air sorties’ in the Gulf.

In a post on X, the Ministry said: ‘The UK has begun conducting defensive air sorties in support of the United Arab Emirates. To support defensive operations, the UK has deployed additional air operations experts to the Gulf — ensuring an accurate air picture across the region and assisting partners with airspace management.

‘Further Wildcat helicopters have arrived at our bases in Cyprus to support defensive operations in the region.

‘A Merlin helicopter has now arrived in theatre to further strengthen our ability to detect aerial threats.’

US Central Command shared images of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems it is using it Iran.

‘US Army High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) provide unrivaled deep-strike capability in combat against the Iranian regime,’ CENTCOM wrote on X.

HIMARS are light multiple rocket launchers that get attached to tactical vehicles.

The Defence Secretary also explained the restrictions on Britain’s involvement in the Iran War – while offering a shot at the Middle Eastern country.

‘We must have a legal basis for our decisions,’ he insisted.

‘Iran has been lashing out with dangerous reckless and indiscriminate strikes. British troops were within a few 100 yards from strike in Bahrain.

‘The Iranian regime is a destructive force.’

Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei just weeks after ordering the strike that killed his father.

Trump said he was ‘not happy with’ Khamenei as the Islamic regime’s new dictator.

Navy destroyer HMS Dragon will leave Portsmouth for the Mediterranean in the ‘next few days’, the Defence Secretary confirmed after much speculation over when the ship would head to the region.

It has been more than a week since an RAF base on Cyprus was struck, the Shadow Defence Secretary pointed out in the Commons.

The Defence Secretary gave an insight into Britain’s increased involvement in the war in the Middle East.

He said RAF Typhoons took out two drones over the weekend – one headed for Jordan and one for Bahrain.

Healey added that the UK was now deploying operations experts in five countries in the region.

Fragments from the drone attack on Cyprus are ‘being analysed for foreign military hardware’.

Britain now also has eight jets stationed in Qatar.

Defence Secretary John Healey has been giving the Commons an update on the progress of the war.

He confirmed the drone that hit RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus last week came from Lebanon or Iraq.

Donald Trump told NBC News Iran made a ‘big mistake’ selecting Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader.

‘I think they made a big mistake,’ he said. ‘I don’t know if it’s going to last. I think they made a mistake.’

Donald Trump said it is too soon to discuss seizing Iran’s oil, but compared the situation to Venezuela.

‘Certainly people have talked about it,’ he told NBC News on Monday.

‘You look at Venezuela. People have thought about it, but it’s too soon to talk about that.’

Kamal Kharazi, Iranian foreign policy adviser to the office of the Supreme Leader, told CNN on Monday that the government is prepared for a long war with the US and said the war would only end through economic pain.

‘I don’t see any room for diplomacy anymore. Because Donald Trump had been deceiving others and not keeping with his promises, and we experienced this in two times of negotiations – that while we were engaged in negotiation, they struck us,’ Kharazi said.

‘There’s no room unless the economic pressure would be built up to the extent that other countries would intervene to guarantee (the) termination of aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran,’ he continued.

Kharazi signaled that Iran is willing to continue to attack Gulf countries in an effort to get President Trump to step back from the war.

‘This war has been producing a lot of pressure – economic pressure – on others, in terms of inflation, in terms of lack of energy, and so if it will be continued, this pressure will be built up more, and therefore others have no choice (but) to intervene.’