Saudi Arabia warns Iran it will be ‘the biggest loser’ from attacks
Saudi Arabia warned Iran it would be “the biggest loser” if it continued to attack Arab states, hours after Iran had named its new supreme leader.
US President Donald Trump said the announcement of Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of the late supreme leader, as the Islamic Republic’s next ruler, was “unacceptable”.
Saudi Arabia’s statement came after a new drone attack apparently targeted its massive Shaybah oil field and followed comments by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday which said Iran had halted its attacks on Gulf Arab states.
“The kingdom affirms that the Iranian side has not implemented this statement in practice, neither during the Iranian president’s speech nor afterward,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Iran has continued its aggression based on flimsy pretexts devoid of any factual basis.”
It added the Iranian attacks mean “further escalation which will have grave impact on the relations, currently and in the future”.
The US State Department issued an order for non-emergency staff and families to leave Saudi Arabia after it announced a US service member had died of injuries sustained during an Iranian attack on the kingdom.
Saudia Arabia’s Civil Defence also confirmed on Sunday that a military projectile that fell onto a residential area killed two foreign-born residents and wounded 12 others – all from Bangladesh – in Al-Kharj governorate, the first casualties of the war reported in the country.
An Iranian drone attack hit a residential area in Bahrain and wounded 32 civilians, including children as young as two years old, authorities said.
The attacks occurred in Sitra Island close to energy infrastructure, the National Communication Centre said.
Four of the wounded are in critical condition, including two boys aged seven and eight who suffered serious leg injuries and were undergoing surgeries, it said.
Bahrain also said sirens were sounding Monday on morning and urged people to head to safe locations.
Iraqi air defences shot down a drone early on Monday as it approached Victoria Base, a US-operated military compound inside Baghdad International Airport, a security source told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Israel also warned of an Iranian missile launch early on Monday, adding that it had targeted Hezbollah in airstrikes on Beirut and began airstrikes targeting central Iran.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Defence Ministry reported a missile attack on the country and in Saudi Arabia, the Defence Ministry said forces early on Monday destroyed four drones that were targeting its vast Shaybah oil field.
Mr Khamenei had long been considered a contender to take control, even before an Israeli strike killed his father Ayatollah Ali Khamanei at the start of the war, and despite never being elected or appointed to a government position.
The announcement came on the ninth day of the war and after signs of a rift among Iranian officials as the country awaited a decision by the 88-seat Assembly of Experts, a group of clerics that selects Iran’s supreme leader.
He will serve as commander-in-chief of the military and Revolutionary Guard, and gains a stockpile of highly enriched uranium that could be used to build a nuclear weapon, if he chooses to decree it.
The Revolutionary Guard issued a statement expressing support and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah shared a portrait of the younger Khamenei on Telegram with the caption “Leader of the blessed Islamic revolution”.
Describing the new leader as a “lightweight”, Mr Trump said: “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me.
“We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.”
He earlier told ABC News on Sunday he wants a say in who comes to power once the war is over and that a new leader “is not going to last long” without his approval.
Mr Trump offered assurance to consumers as oil prices eclipsed 100 dollars (£75) per barrel for the first time in more than three and a half years on Sunday with the war hindering production and shipping.
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” Mr Trump said in a social media post. “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY.”
