U.S. and Israeli warplanes launched a new wave of attacks on targets across Iran on Monday, as large crowds took to the streets of Tehran to defiantly show support for Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The conflict continues to escalate as it enters its second week, with Iran launching new missile and drone attacks on Israel, U.S. bases in the Middle East and Gulf energy infrastructure.
In Lebanon, Israel stepped up its offensive against Hezbollah with strikes in the south and air strikes on Beirut, while an Iranian missile was shot down over Turkey. Following reports of drone attacks in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, French President Emmanuel Macron said France and its allies were preparing to carry out “defensive” missions in the Gulf to protect oil supplies.
Thousands of people gathered in Tehran’s Enkhrab Square on Monday to show their allegiance to Iran’s new supreme leader, hours after his appointment was officially announced.
Some chanted “Death to America, death to Israel” and “God is great,” some waved Iranian flags and others waved banners bearing a portrait of the new leader’s father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei was killed by an Israeli airstrike early in the war after 37 years in power. Armored vehicles lined nearby roads and security personnel were stationed on the rooftops of surrounding buildings.
“The path of martyr Imam Khamenei will continue in Khamenei’s name,” said Husenali Eshkvari, a member of Iran’s expert committee responsible for electing the supreme leader.
Another member, Mohsen Haidari, said the late Ali Khamenei recommended choosing candidates “hated by enemies”.
Israel has said it will target Iran’s new supreme leader, while US President Donald Trump dismissed the younger Khamenei as a “lightweight” and “unacceptable” choice.
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Tehran’s provocative rhetoric and the appointment of Khamenei, whom analysts consider a hardliner close to the Revolutionary Guards, have heightened concerns that the conflict could drag on for weeks or even months and leave deep instability in its wake. Global stock markets fell sharply on Monday after oil prices soared.
Iran’s attack on the Strait of Hormuz has all but stopped oil tankers from using the main waterway that carries a fifth of the world’s oil.
During a visit to Cyprus to discuss regional security, Macron said the new naval mission would be aimed at escorting container ships and oil tankers in order to gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the “most intense phase of the conflict”.
France has sent about a dozen naval ships, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and possibly the Strait of Hormuz as part of a defense push to allies threatened by conflicts in the Middle East.
Iranian security chief Ali Larijani posted on X on Monday that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz would not be restored “amidst the fire that the United States and Israel have lit in the region.”
Related: Iran war pushes oil prices above $100 a barrel for first time since 2022
Analysts say Iran hopes that limiting the flow of oil to global markets and attacking the region’s energy infrastructure will cause enough damage to the global economy to force Trump to end the U.S. offensive and end the war on Tehran’s terms.
However, the United States, Israel and the Gulf states, which have borne the brunt of Iran’s attacks, currently appear unprepared to consider concessions.
On Monday, Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah described Iran’s attack on Kuwait as “a barbaric attack on a neighboring Muslim country that we consider friends, although we do not allow any military action against them using our lands, airspace or coasts.” Saudi Arabia said it would be the “biggest loser” if Tehran continued its attacks on Arab countries.
In the United Arab Emirates, authorities said two people were injured by shrapnel from an intercepted Iranian missile over the capital Abu Dhabi. By mid-afternoon, the UAE Defense Ministry said that 15 ballistic missiles and 18 drones were launched into the country on Monday.
Since the war began, the UAE has launched a total of 253 missiles and 1,440 drones. Four foreigners were killed and 117 injured in the United Arab Emirates, authorities said.
Related: Iran threatens retaliatory attacks on Gulf oil facilities after Israeli attack
Iran also struck in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, striking a residential area and wounding 32 people, including several children, according to authorities. Another attack appeared to have sparked a fire at Bahrain’s only oil refinery, sending thick smoke into the air.
Bahrain also accused Iran of sabotaging one of its desalination plants, although its power and water authorities said supplies remained online. Desalination plants supply water to millions of residents in the region, raising new concerns about catastrophic risks in the arid desert country.
Iran continues to target Israel with drones and ballistic missiles. A missile strike in central Israel killed a man, the first such death in Israel in a week, and wounded a woman.
The war has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, 397 in Lebanon and 11 in Israel, according to officials. Israel reported its first military deaths on Sunday, saying two combat engineers were killed while fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
An Israeli military spokesman accused Iran of targeting Israeli cities with cluster bombs.
“We see it every day [that] Iran deliberately targets densely populated civilian areas,” the spokesman said.
The official said Israel was attacking “terror infrastructure” in Lebanon. Lebanon has been deeply embroiled in Middle East wars since Hezbollah opened fire in retaliation for Khamenei’s killing, triggering an Israeli offensive that has so far killed more than 400 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities.
The Israeli military has ordered residents to leave Beirut’s southern suburbs, much of southern Lebanon and parts of the eastern Bekaa Valley – all areas that were once Hezbollah’s political and security strongholds.
“Mass displacement across Lebanon has forced nearly 700,000 people, including some 200,000 children, from their homes, and previous escalations have displaced tens of thousands more,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Regional Director.
“Child casualty rates are shocking, with many families fleeing their homes out of fear and thousands of children now sleeping in cold and overcrowded shelters,” he said.
In Türkiye, NATO air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile that entered the country’s airspace, the second such attack since the war began. President Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye’s main goal was to keep the country away from the “fire” of the conflict.
