Defiant Iranian hardliners have celebrated the naming of a new Supreme Leader. Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei the Islamic Republic’s next ruler on Monday, putting a hard-line cleric in charge as the war continues to engulf the Middle East.

Huge crowds took to the streets of Tehran to hail their new ruler, who is the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He was killed in a joint US-Israeli strike at the outset of the war which is now in its second week. Supporters in the Iranian capital waved flags and cried, “Allahu Akbar, Khamenei Rahbar”, which translates to “God is greater, Khamenei is leader”.

Under the shadow of war, Iran’s Assembly of Experts chose the secretive, 56-year-old cleric, who has close ties to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

The Guard has been firing missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf Arab states since Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on February 28.

Iran has targeted Israel and US bases in the region since the war erupted, but the country has also been launching missiles and drones at energy infrastructure and desalination plants.

A blaze broke out on Monday (March 9) at an oil facility attacked in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Bahrain’s only oil refinery was apparently also hit and Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted several drones attacking its Shaybah oil field.

Israel claimed strikes on targets in the Iranian city of Isfahan, saying it had hit command centres for the Revolutionary Guard and its volunteer Basij force as well as a rocket engine production facility and missile launch sites.

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The Islamic Republic’s military has vowed to strike oil sites in the region in response to any US-Israeli attacks.

Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for Iran’s central military command, told state TV: “The governments of Islamic countries are expected to warn the criminal America and the savage Zionist regime of such cowardly, inhumane actions as soon as possible.

“Otherwise, similar measures will be taken in the region, and if you can tolerate oil at more than $200 per barrel, continue this game.”

US President Donald Trump downplayed the spike in prices as temporary. He wrote on Truth Social: “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 USA, and World, Safety and Peace.”

Besides targeting energy facilities in the UAE, Iran on Monday also attacked Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, where it hit a residential area wounding 32 people, including several children.

Another attack appeared to have started a blaze at Bahrain’s only oil refinery, sending thick plumes of smoke into the air.

Bahrain’s government did not immediately identify the refinery itself as being hit, though it has been a target of repeated Iranian attacks since the war began.