Trump says he doesn’t believe Iran’s new supreme leader ’can live in peace’

Boeing has signed a new $289 million contract with Israel to deliver as many as 5,000 ​new air-launched smart bombs, a source told Reuters ‌on Tuesday.

The leaders of the UK, Germany, and Italy discussed the situation in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz, and agreed on the critical importance of freedom of navigation for vessels, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday.

Iran`s Revolutionary Guards forced through the choice of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader, seeing him as a more pliant version of his father who would back their hardline policies, bludgeoning aside the concerns of pragmatists, senior Iranian sources said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia will deploy a long-range reconnaissance aircraft and send air-to-air missiles to help countries in the Gulf region defend against Iranian attacks.

Despite what it called a humanitarian "disaster" in Afghanistan, the US said on Monday international assistance to the country should be evaluated, given Taliban "intransigence" and its exclusion of the female population from basic rights.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned Washington on Monday that Tehran is “fully prepared” for further escalation as tensions continue to shake global markets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is ready to supply energy to Europe if European countries signal interest, while noting that Moscow is increasing oil and gas deliveries to what he described as “reliable partners” in several regions.

Europe became the world`s biggest arms importer over the last five years as governments reacted to Russia`s threat and waning confidence in US security commitments, data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute showed on Monday.

Oil prices surged about 20% on Monday (9 March), hitting their highest since July 2022, as the expanding US-Israeli war with Iran ‌led some major Middle Eastern oil producers to cut supplies and on fears of prolonged disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint.

The US State Department said it has ordered “non-emergency US government employees and US government employee family members” to leave Saudi Arabia due to rising security risks in the region.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he will make the decision to end the US-Israeli war on Iran mutually with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi demanded an "immediate stop to military operations" in the Middle East on Sunday to prevent an escalation and avoid the spillover of the conflict following a US-Israeli offensive against Iran, and Tehran`s retaliatory attacks, state-run Xinhua News reported.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Britain is giving "serious thought" to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East, but added that the US does not need them to win the war with Iran, in the latest clash between the military allies.

Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said the escalating situation in the region could have “serious repercussions” for international security and peace during a call with US President Donald Trump, according to the Qatar News Agency late Saturday.

President Donald Trump`s administration has bypassed US Congress using an emergency authority to expedite the sale of more than 20,000 bombs to Israel worth around $650 million, two US officials familiar with the sale said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that he could not rule out his country’s military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East, after earlier saying that the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were “inconsistent with international law”.