Pres. On Monday, Vladimir Putin pledged his “unwavering support” to Iran’s new supreme leader. (Photo: ROUZBEH FOULADI / MIDDLE EAST IMAGES / MIDDLE EAST IMAGES VIA AFP)
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Putin gives his ‘unwavering support’ to Iranian supreme leader
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, pledged his “unwavering support” to Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, on Monday. Khamenei was named supreme leader after the death of Ali Khamenei, his father and predecessor.
“I would like to reaffirm our unwavering support to Tehran and solidarity with our Iranian friends,” Putin said in a message to Khamenei.
He added that “Russia has been and will remain a reliable partner for Iran”.
“As Iran faces armed aggression, your tenure in this high office will undoubtedly require great courage and commitment,” the Russian leader told Khamenei.
Israel targets Beirut’s southern neighborhoods after warning
The Israeli army warned earlier in the day that it was going to target branches of Al-Qard Al-Hasan. (Photo: Ibrahim Amro/AFP)
Israel resumed its attacks on Beirut’s southern neighborhoods on Monday, after the country warned it would target branches of a financial services company with ties to Hezbollah.
Footage on AFPTV’s live broadcast showed large clouds of smoke above the area, a stronghold of Iran-backed groups.
The Israeli army warned earlier in the day that it was now going to target branches of Al-Qard Al-Hasan. The company mainly does business in Hezbollah strongholds in the south and east of Lebanon, as well as in Beirut’s southern neighborhoods.
Israel carried out at least three attacks on southern Beirut on Monday, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East conflict last week when the Iran-backed Hezbollah group attacked Israel in retaliation for the death of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Even before the outbreak of the latest conflict, Israel continued its attacks on Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire that was entered into in 2024. The country carried out several attacks in Lebanon last week and deployed ground forces in the border areas. – AFP
Mojtaba Khamenei new supreme leader in Iran
Mojtaba Khamenei (Photo: – / KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of former Iranian leader the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been named the new leader of the Islamic Republic. He is described as a reclusive figure who ensures the continuation of his father’s inflexible leadership style.
The 56-year-old held no official office during his father’s rule, but has long been speculated to have wielded significant behind-the-scenes influence in Iran’s power circles.
He is seen as close to the conservative group, particularly because of his ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which quickly pledged their loyalty to the new leader.
Because of his discretion at official events and in the media, there has been speculation among ordinary Iranians and in diplomatic circles about the younger Khamenei’s real influence for years.
The Assembly of Experts, Iran’s highest ecclesiastical institution, named him supreme leader and confirmed it on Monday morning.
Mojtaba Khamenei was born on September 8, 1969 in Mashhad in eastern Iran and is the only one of the late Ali Khamenei’s six children to hold public office.
Ali Khamenei died at the age of 86 during the first US-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran that sparked the war in the Middle East on February 28.
Ties with security forces
The USA has Mojtaba Khamenei in 2019 during pres. Sanctioned Donald Trump’s first term and said Khamenei represented his father “despite never having been elected or officially appointed to a government position”.
According to the US Treasury, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has delegated “part of his leadership responsibilities” to his son, who has “worked closely with Iranian security forces to further his father’s destabilizing regional and repressive domestic goals”.
According to an investigation by Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources and reports from Western intelligence services, Mojtaba Khamenei has amassed a fortune of more than $100 million.
Money from oil sales was apparently diverted through companies to investments in luxury property in Britain, hotels in Europe and property in Dubai.
On the religious level, Mojtaba Khamenei studied theology in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, where he also taught.
He attained the rank of Hujjat al-Islam, but upon his appointment as leader was introduced as ayatollah.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife, Zahra Haddad-Adel, was killed in the same US-Israeli strikes that killed the former supreme leader, according to Iranian authorities.
Israel has meanwhile issued a stern warning to the new leader and those who appointed him, saying “the hand of the State of Israel will continue to monitor any successor and anyone who tries to appoint a successor”.
Israel apparently uses “illegal” white phosphorus in attacks
Beiroet, Lebanon. (Photo: Kamal Mehanna/AFPTV/AFP)
The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israel on Monday of “illegally” using white phosphorus over residential areas in a town in southern Lebanon.
The human rights organization said in a report that the “Israeli army illegally used white phosphorus weapons on houses in the town of Yohmor in southern Lebanon on March 3”.
HRW said it was in possession of “footage confirming aerial explosions of white phosphorus over a residential area in the town, as civil defense workers responded to fires in at least two houses and one car in that area.”
White phosphorus is a substance that burns when it comes into contact with oxygen and is often used to create smoke screens because it quickly produces dense smoke. White phosphorus can also be used as an incendiary weapon and can cause fires, severe burns, respiratory damage, organ failure and even death.
Israel, which is carrying out attacks on Hezbollah, has launched several airstrikes right over Lebanon since last week and has also deployed ground troops to border areas. The Israeli army has since encouraged people living south of the Litani River, about 30 km north of the Israeli border, to leave the area.
According to Lebanese authorities, at least 394 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, while more than half a million people have been displaced.
Ramzi Kaiss, HRW researcher, said in the report that “the Israeli army’s illegal use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely worrying and will have serious consequences for civilians”.
He added that “Israel must immediately stop this practice and states that supply Israel with weapons, including white phosphorus, must immediately suspend military aid and arms sales and put pressure on Israel to stop its use in residential areas”.
Lebanese authorities and HRW have accused Israel in recent years of using controversial white phosphorus in attacks that authorities say harm civilians and the environment. Lebanon’s state news agency National News Agency reported on Sunday that Israeli forces targeted the towns of Khiam and Tal Nahas near the Israeli border “with phosphorus”.
Last month, Lebanon also accused Israel of spraying the herbicide glyphosate on the Lebanese side of the border. President Joseph Aoun condemned it as a “crime against the environment”. – AFP