Iran announces it has chosen a new supreme leader as Tehran chokes in fire and smoke
As Tehran continues to suffocate from dense, acrid smoke following last night’s US-Israeli airstrikes, Iran announced it has elected a new religious leader.
The religious council tasked with choosing the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed about a week ago in the attacks that triggered the war in the Middle East, has reached a decision, but has not yet determined the new leader.
“A vote was held to appoint the leader and the leader was elected,” said Ahmad Alamolhoda, a member of the Assembly of Experts, as quoted by Iran’s Mehr news agency.
Alamolhoda said the body secretariat will announce the name later. While other council members confirmed that a decision had been taken, one of them suggested that the late leader’s son would be appointed to the post.
Israel, meanwhile, has issued a stern warning that its forces will not hesitate to target the new president and members of the Assembly of Experts that convened to confirm him.
The reach of the attack was highlighted by two new operations overnight: attacks on fuel depots in and around Tehran, and an attack on a hotel in the heart of Lebanon’s capital Beirut, targeting suspected Iranian commanders.
As the war enters its ninth day, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said they have enough supplies to continue aerial drone and missile warfare in the Middle East for up to six months.
US President Donald Trump again ruled out sending American ground troops to Iran but continued to insist that the war was almost won despite Iran’s ongoing missile and drone attacks.
Thick smoke rises from an oil storage facility that was hit by a US-Israeli attack late Saturday in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday, March 8, 2026.
Debris of collapsed buildings is seen at the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting a neighborhood in the village of Sir el Gharbiyeh in southern Lebanon on March 8, 2026.
Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said Iran had only used first- and second-generation missiles so far, but would use ‘advanced and less commonly used long-range missiles’ in the coming days.
Saudi Arabia caught a wave of drones heading for targets including the diplomatic headquarters in the capital Riyadh, Kuwait said fuel tanks at its international airport had been hit and Bahrain reported damage to a water desalination plant.
Warplanes hit five oil facilities in overnight attacks in and around Iran’s capital, killing four people, the CEO of the national oil products distribution firm told state television.
Tehran’s governor told the IRNA news agency that fuel distribution in the capital was ‘temporarily interrupted’ during repair works.
As the morning broke, a dark haze hung over the city and the smell of burning was in the air.
The Israeli military has confirmed that its air force struck ‘fuel storage facilities in Tehran’ to prevent their use by the Iranian military.
Tehran has vowed to go after US assets in the region, and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait reported new attacks on Sunday.
In Iran, damage to infrastructure and residential areas is increasing as public reports of increased anxiety and heavy security presence.
A 26-year-old teacher, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, described his fear of living under bombardment as follows: “I don’t think anyone who hasn’t experienced war will understand this.”
Iran’s health ministry said on Sunday that at least 1,200 civilians were killed and nearly 10,000 injured; These figures were not independently verified by AFP.
Lebanon’s health ministry said last week that at least 294 people had been killed in Israeli airstrikes, prompting Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to warn of an impending ‘humanitarian disaster’.
Meanwhile, Trump attended the return of the bodies of six American soldiers killed in a drone attack on a US base in Kuwait last Sunday.
Explosions occurred at the Shahran Oil Refinery in Tehran following the strike that occurred on March 7, 2026.
Analysts warn that there is still no clear path to ending the conflict, which U.S. and Israeli officials say could last a month or longer.
Trump suggested that Iran’s economy could be rebuilt if the last religious leader rejected by Tehran was replaced by a leader ‘acceptable’ by Washington.
China and Russia have largely remained on the sidelines, despite their close ties to Tehran.
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said on Sunday that war in the Middle East ‘should never happen’ and told a news conference in Beijing that ‘a strong punch does not mean a strong reason’. The world cannot go back to the laws of the jungle.’
