Iran on Monday named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the ​week-old U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel.

Mojtaba, a cleric with influence inside Iran’s security forces and vast business networks under his father, had been viewed as a frontrunner ‌in the lead-up to Sunday’s vote by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics tasked with choosing Ali Khamenei’s successor, Reuters reported.

“By a decisive vote, the Assembly of Experts, appointed Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Assembly said in a statement issued just after midnight Tehran time.

The position gives Mojtaba the final say in all matters of state in the Islamic Republic.

Mojtaba’s appointment will likely draw the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump, who said on ​Sunday that Washington should have a say in the selection. “If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long,” he told ABC News.

Israel, ahead of the announcement, threatened to target whoever was ​chosen.

In an interview with the Times of Israel after the new supreme leader was named, Trump declined to respond, saying only “We’ll see what happens,” according to the newspaper. ⁠Trump also said in the interview that ending the war would be a “mutual” decision with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mojtaba’s father, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was killed in one of the first strikes launched against Iran more ​than a week ago.

Washington on Sunday ordered the departure of non-emergency employees at its embassy in Saudi Arabia, the latest drawdown of U.S. diplomats as Iran has struck U.S. facilities in the region.

The U.S. military reported a seventh American ​has died from wounds sustained during Iran’s initial counter-attack a week ago, a day after Trump presided over the return to the United States of the remains of the six others killed.

The U.S.-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran’s U.N. ambassador.

OIL OVER $100 A BARREL

The expanding war has severely impacted the oil trade and surging prices sparked a fall in share futures in Asia on Monday, amid fears of rising living costs. The dollar rose sharply against the euro and the yen.

U.S. crude ​futures rose more than 20% in early trade on Monday, hitting their highest since July 2022, amid fears of tighter supply and prolonged disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent jumped 17% to $108.73 a barrel, ​having already soared 28% last week.

On Wall Street, S&P 500 futures shed 1.6%, while Nasdaq futures dived 1.7%.

Trump, in a social media post, said oil prices “will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over,” and said the price ‌hike was “a very ⁠small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace.”

DEFIANCE FROM TEHRAN

Iranian state media said the leadership of Iran’s armed forces had pledged allegiance to Mojtaba Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement they are ready to follow the new supreme leader.

The Assembly of Experts met on Sunday to elect a new supreme leader despite threats that the body would be targeted, Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, said on state TV after the announcement.

Mojtaba Khamenei could lead the country under the current sensitive conditions, Larijani said, calling for unity around the new leader.

Iran has launched strikes across the region in retaliation against U.S. and Israeli attacks. The U.S. State Department said on ​Sunday it had ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and ​their family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to ⁠safety risks, days after the embassy in the Saudi capital was damaged in a drone attack blamed on Iran.

Early on Sunday, the Saudi Defence Ministry said that it had shot down a drone that attempted to target the Diplomatic Quarter, a calm tree-lined neighbourhood on the city’s western edge that hosts most foreign missions including the U.S. embassy.

The ​U.S. has already raised its warning level for Saudi Arabia and allowed some personnel to leave the country, and has ordered the departure of staff at embassies ​in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and ⁠Bahrain since the outbreak of the war.

Israel continued to target senior Iranian figures, including Abolqasem Babaian, the recently appointed head of the military office of the supreme leader, saying he was killed in a Saturday strike.

‘DANGEROUS NEW PHASE’

As fighting escalated on Sunday, day nine of the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, thick black smoke hung over Tehran, residents said, after strikes on oil storage facilities had lit up the night sky with plumes of orange flame.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the large-scale attack ⁠marked a “dangerous new ​phase” of the conflict and amounted to a war crime.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters the depots were used to ​fuel Iran’s war effort, including producing or storing propellant for ballistic missiles. “They are a legal military target,” he said.

Netanyahu said his government would press on with the assault and strike Iran’s rulers “without mercy”.

“We have an organised plan with many surprises to destabilise the regime and enable change,” ​he said in a video statement.

The clerical body that will choose ​Iran’s next supreme leader, succeeding the slain Ayatollah ‌Ali Khamenei, has more or less reached a majority consensus, Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mohammadmehdi Mirbaqeri said ​on Sunday.

The Mehr news agency quoted him as ​saying “some obstacles” still needed to be resolved ⁠regarding the process, according to Reuters.

On Saturday, a senior cleric in ​the Assembly of Experts said its members would meet “within ​one day” to choose the leader.

Iranian media said the group had a minor disagreement over whether their final decision ​must follow an in-person meeting or instead be ​issued without adhering to this formality.

Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, another member ‌of ⁠the Assembly of Experts, said in a video released by Nournews on Sunday that an in-person meeting by the assembly for a final vote was ​not possible ​under current ⁠conditions.

He said a candidate had been picked, based on the late supreme leader’s ​advice that Iran’s top leader should “be ​hated by ⁠the enemy” instead of praised by it.

“Even the Great Satan (U.S.) has mentioned his name,” Heidari Alekasir said ⁠of ​the chosen successor, days after ​U.S. President Donald Trump said that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, was an “unacceptable” choice ​for him.

Saudi Arabia has told Tehran that while it favours a diplomatic settlement to Iran’s conflict with the United States, continued attacks on the kingdom and ​its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind, Reuters reported citing four sources familiar with the matter.

The message was conveyed before a speech on ‌Saturday in which Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologised to neighbouring Gulf states for Tehran’s actions — an apparent attempt to defuse regional anger over Iranian strikes that hit civilian targets.

Two days earlier, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and set out Riyadh’s position with clarity, the sources said.

Saudi Arabia is open to any form of mediation aimed at de‑escalation and a negotiated settlement, the sources quoted ​the minister as saying, underlining that neither Riyadh nor other Gulf states had let the U.S. use their airspace or territory to launch airstrikes on Iran.

But Prince ​Faisal was also quoted by the sources as saying that if Iranian attacks persisted against Saudi territory or energy infrastructure, Saudi Arabia would ⁠be forced to permit U.S. forces to use their bases there for military operations. Riyadh would retaliate if attacks on the kingdom’s critical energy facilities continued, he said.

The sources said ​the kingdom had remained in regular contact with Tehran through its ambassador since the U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran began on February 28 following the collapse of talks on ​Iran’s nuclear programme.

The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministries did not respond to requests for comment.

DRONE AND MISSILE ATTACKS ON GULF STATES

The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have all come under heavy drone and missile fire from Iran over the past week.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on the first day of the war. Tehran responded by hitting Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting U.S. military installations, ​and Israel has attacked Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group.

Araqchi said in an interview on Saturday that he remained in constant contact with his Saudi counterpart and other Saudi officials, adding ​that Riyadh had assured Tehran it was fully committed to not allowing its territory, waters or airspace to be used for attacks against Iran.

Pezeshkian said Iran’s temporary leadership council had approved suspending attacks on ‌nearby countries – unless ⁠an attack on Iran came from those nations.

“I personally apologise to neighbouring countries that were affected by Iran’s actions,” he said.

To what extent Pezeshkian’s remarks signal a change is unclear. There were further reports of strikes directed at Gulf states on Saturday.

Also, in a sign of possible divisions within Iran’s leadership, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters – the unified combatant command of the Iranian armed forces – said in a statement afterwards that U.S. and Israeli bases and interests across the region would remain targets.

The command said Iran’s armed forces respected the sovereignty and interests of ​neighbouring states and had not taken action against ​them so far. But it said U.S. ⁠and Israeli military bases and assets on land, at sea and in the air across the region would be treated as primary targets and face “powerful and heavy” strikes by Iran’s forces.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post that Iran had “apologized and surrendered to its Middle ​East neighbours, and promised that it will not shoot at them anymore. This promise was only made because of the relentless U.S. ​and Israeli attack.”

Two Iranian ⁠sources confirmed that a call had taken place in which Riyadh warned Tehran to halt attacks on Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Gulf states. Iran, they said, reiterated its position that the strikes were not aimed at Gulf countries themselves but at U.S. interests and military bases hosted on their territory.

One Iranian source said that Tehran had in response demanded that U.S. bases in the region be ⁠closed and ​some Gulf states stop sharing intelligence with Washington that Iran believes is being used to carry out attacks against it.

Another ​Iranian source said some military commanders were pressing to continue the strikes, accusing the U.S. of using bases in Gulf states and these countries’ airspace to conduct operations against Iran.

Iran had in recent years mended fences with its ​Gulf neighbours, including former regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia. The diplomatic campaign imploded in the blitz of drones and missiles launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the past week.