Iran's foreign minister says Trump should apologize for war

Iran’s foreign minister said on Sunday that the country’s next leader would be chosen by the Iranian people, rejecting comments by U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting he should have a role in the process and demanding an apology from Washington for the war.

“We allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs. This is up to the Iranian people to elect their new leader,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC’s Meet the Press , responding to Trump’s remarks on Thursday about Iran’s succession process.

Araghchi also said Trump “should apologize to the people of the region and the Iranian people for the killings and destruction they have done against us.”

His comments came as Iran prepared to announce a successor to its slain supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed nine days ago in U.S.-backed Israeli strikes that ignited the current Middle East conflict.

Members of Iran’s Assembly of Experts said the powerful clerical body had met privately and chosen the next leader, though the name had yet to be publicly disclosed.

“The vote to appoint the leader has taken place and the leader has been chosen,” members of the body said, adding that an announcement would be made soon. Some suggested Khamenei’s 56-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, could succeed him.

The younger Khamenei is widely regarded as a conservative figure with strong ties to the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran’s military.

Trump had earlier demanded a say in the succession process, while Israel’s military warned that any new leader would remain a potential target.

Air ‘unbreathable’

Israel underscored its operational reach overnight with fresh strikes, including attacks on fuel depots in and around Tehran and a strike on a hotel in Beirut believed to house Iranian commanders.

Warplanes hit five oil facilities near the Iranian capital, killing at least four people, according to a state oil executive.

Tehran’s governor told the IRNA news agency that fuel distribution in the capital had been “temporarily interrupted” following the strikes.

A dark haze hung over the city of about 10 million people, blocking out the sun as the smell of burning fuel lingered in the air.

Authorities warned the fumes could be toxic and urged residents to remain indoors, although many homes were already damaged by the force of the blasts.

“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,” a 35-year-old resident of Tehran said.

“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,” she said in a text message to Europe.

As the war entered its ninth day, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had enough supplies to continue their drone and missile campaign across the Middle East for up to six months.

Several explosions were also heard over Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv after the Israeli military said it had detected a new salvo of Iranian missiles. Emergency services reported six people wounded in central Israel.

Advanced missiles

U.S. President Donald Trump again refused to rule out sending American ground troops into Iran, although he insisted the war was close to being won despite continuing Iranian missile and drone attacks.

Revolutionary Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said Iran had so far used only first- and second-generation missiles but would deploy “advanced and less-used long-range missiles” in the coming days.

The conflict has also spilled across the Gulf region. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted drones targeting areas including Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter, while Kuwait reported that fuel tanks at its international airport had been hit. Bahrain said a desalination plant was damaged.

Iran’s health ministry said at least 1,200 civilians have been killed and around 10,000 wounded since the conflict began, although AFP could not independently verify the figures.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes since the country was drawn into the conflict a week ago have killed at least 394 people, including 83 children and 42 women.

Israel’s military also reported two soldiers killed during fighting in southern Lebanon.

Trump, meanwhile, attended the return ceremony for six American service members killed in a drone strike on a U.S. base in Kuwait last Sunday.

No clear way out

Analysts say there is still no clear path to ending a conflict that U.S. and Israeli officials believe could last a month or longer.

Trump has suggested Iran’s economy could be rebuilt if a leader “acceptable” to Washington replaces the late supreme leader — a proposal Tehran has rejected.

China and Russia, both close partners of Iran, have largely stayed on the sidelines despite the escalating conflict.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said the war in the Middle East “should never have happened,” warning that “the world cannot return to the law of the jungle.”

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.”