US President Donald Trump has told Fox News he is ‘not happy’ about Iran’s decision to select Mojtaba Khamenei as its new Supreme Leader.

Khamenei has previously been branded ‘unacceptable’ by Trump who last week made his feelings clear about the Ayatollah’s son.

Trump said somewhat sarcastically that ‘at some point they’ll be calling me to ask who I’d like’ to replace the Ayatollah.

The president has said he would personally select a new leader and Khamenei’s son was ‘unlikely’ and ‘unacceptable’.

Khamenei, excluded from a list of three senior clerics his father reportedly identified last year, was on Sunday announced as the Ayatollah’s successor after being appointed by the regime’s 88-person assembly.

The leader has strong links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was chosen by Iran’s Assembly of Experts ‘under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards’, according to Iranian media.

The US-Israel war with Iran has entered its tenth day with mayhem continuing across the Middle East since the fighting began last month.

If you’re just joining us, French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a plan to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help oil and gas supplies flow through the passage once again

The US Navy has reportedly attacked an Iranian warship and two other vessels in the Persian Gulf.

Meanwhile, oil prices are surging worldwide as global markets slid today and Donald Trump has declared he and Benjamin Netanyahu will make a ‘mutual’ decision on when to end the war.

Here are the key developments on Monday afternoon.

• France has announced plans to deploy eight warships to the Middle East in a ‘purely defensive’ mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz
• An Iranian warship and two other vessels have reportedly been attacked by the US Navy during airstrikes on the port city of Bandar Abbas
• NATO have shot down a second Iranian missile in Turkish airspace
• Oil prices rise to above $100 a barrel for first time in four years as global markets slid at the start of trading
• Donald Trump says he and Benjamin Netanyahu will make ‘mutual’ decision on when to end Iran war
• Vladimir Putin offers ‘unwavering support’ to Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei
• Bahrain’s only oil refinery has been struck by an Iranian missile as Tehran targets energy installations across the Gulf
• The UAE confirmed two members of its armed forces were killed in a helicopter crash when the aircraft malfunctioned during the defence against Iranian drones
• Pete Hegseth, the US Defense Secretary, last night guaranteed Iran will ‘surrender’ and President Donald Trump will set the terms of their defeat
• Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, was selected by the country’s Assembly of Experts to succeed his father
• Iranian state television has reported Khamenei is ‘wounded’ but did not elaborate on how the injuries were caused
• The US has identified the seventh solider killed during Operation Epic Fury

The number of Iranian soldiers and commanders killed in Israeli strikes since the war erupted just over a week ago has hit 1,900, according to the IDF.

Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin added in a press statement that thousands more had been wounded in that time.

He said: ‘We have many more targets; it is an ongoing effort, and we are deepening the blows to all levels of the regime.’

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge criticised the lack of a single Navy warship deployed in the region and the delay on sending HMS Dragon into the fray.

He added that the UK’s response so far has ‘completely undermined our international standing’ – before the Commons debate descended into a political back and forth about each party’s historic defence spending.

Israel has criticised the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader, saying: ‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’

The country’s Foreign Ministry wrote on X: ‘Mojtaba Khamenei’s hands are already stained with the bloodshed that defined his father’s rule. Another tyrant to continue the Iranian regime’s brutality.’

Israel previously doubled down on its pledge to destroy the regime and last week insisted that no successor to the Ayatollah would be acceptable.

Over 36,000 American citizens have fled the Middle East since February 28, US State Department Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson told Fox News.

More than two dozen charter flights have been completed and commercial flight ability has increased.

‘At this time, seats available on the Department’s charter options are significantly greater than the demand from Americans in the region.  Many Americans continue to depart on commercial options,’ Johnson said.

Hezbollah terror group has said it struck the IDF Home Front Command headquarters in what was the deepest attack in Israel conducted since hostilities were renewed last week.

The operation this afternoon also apparently hit a ‘satellite communications station’ in Haela Valley near Beit Shemesh.

Sixteen people were ‘lightly hurt’ in the attack, according to medical officials.

The IDF added that the three Hezbollah launchers deployed to fire long-range projectiles were destroyed in a series of air strikes.

At the same time as the Defence Secretary was addressing the Commons, the MoD confirmed the ‘defensive air sorties’ in the Gulf.

In a post on X, the Ministry said: ‘The UK has begun conducting defensive air sorties in support of the United Arab Emirates. To support defensive operations, the UK has deployed additional air operations experts to the Gulf — ensuring an accurate air picture across the region and assisting partners with airspace management.

‘Further Wildcat helicopters have arrived at our bases in Cyprus to support defensive operations in the region.

‘A Merlin helicopter has now arrived in theatre to further strengthen our ability to detect aerial threats.’

US Central Command shared images of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems it is using it Iran.

‘US Army High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) provide unrivaled deep-strike capability in combat against the Iranian regime,’ CENTCOM wrote on X.

HIMARS are light multiple rocket launchers that get attached to tactical vehicles.

The Defence Secretary also explained the restrictions on Britain’s involvement in the Iran War – while offering a shot at the Middle Eastern country.

‘We must have a legal basis for our decisions,’ he insisted.

‘Iran has been lashing out with dangerous reckless and indiscriminate strikes. British troops were within a few 100 yards from strike in Bahrain.

‘The Iranian regime is a destructive force.’

Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei just weeks after ordering the strike that killed his father.

Trump said he was ‘not happy with’ Khamenei as the Islamic regime’s new dictator.

Navy destroyer HMS Dragon will leave Portsmouth for the Mediterranean in the ‘next few days’, the Defence Secretary confirmed after much speculation over when the ship would head to the region.

It has been more than a week since an RAF base on Cyprus was struck, the Shadow Defence Secretary pointed out in the Commons.