Iran says Israel, US deliberately targeting civilian areas
• 1,230 killed by bombing so far; hospitals, schools targeted, football stadium destroyed
• Iran claims hitting US aircraft carrier, oil tanker; targets Erbil base
• US rejects IRGC claim of shooting down F-15E
• Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, Ramat David Airbase hit by missiles
• Hormuz, Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf designated ‘warlike operations area’; UN agency says 20,000 seafarers, 15,000 passengers stuck in these waters

BEIRUT: US President Donald Trump insisted on Thursday that he have a say in picking Iran’s next supreme leader, as the war triggered by the US-Israeli campaign that assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reverberated throughout the Middle East and beyond.

Trump on Thursday rejected the possibility of Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, replacing his slain father as supreme leader, dismissing him as a “lightweight”.

“I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy,” Trump told Axios in an interview, drawing a comparison to Venezuela, where interim president Delcy Rodriguez has cooperated with him under threat of violence after the United States ousted her boss, Nicolas Maduro.Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump was quoted saying, threatening more war in the future if a better alternative was not found.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi directly addressed US President Donald Trump in his latest statement, saying that it’s plan to subjugate Iran had failed.

“Plan A for a clean rapid military victory failed, Mr President,” Iran’s top diplomat wrote on social media platform X. “Your Plan B will be [an] even bigger failure.#AltcoinSeasonTalkTwoYearLow