President Donald Trump of the United States has asserted his intention to participate in choosing Iran’s next leader, as tensions between nations heighten. This development follows a series of military actions, with US and Israeli jets conducting strikes across Iran, while Gulf cities have endured renewed attacks.

In a conversation with Reuters, Trump expressed skepticism about Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who is seen by some as a strong candidate to succeed his father. Trump remarked that Khamenei was an “unlikely choice” for the leadership role.

“We want to be involved in the process of choosing the person who is going to lead Iran into the future,” Trump stated. He emphasized the importance of selecting a leader who would benefit both the Iranian people and the country itself. “We don’t have to go back every five years and do this again and again,” he added.

Amid these declarations, the Israeli military issued warnings for residents to evacuate certain areas, including eastern Tehran. Meanwhile, Iranian media reported explosions in multiple parts of the capital.

“Today is worse than yesterday. They are striking northern Tehran. We have nowhere to go. It is like a war zone. Help us,” shared a Tehran resident, as the sound of explosions echoed from the latest wave of strikes targeting Iranian government sites, according to Israeli statements.

“Today is worse than yesterday. They are striking northern Tehran. We have nowhere to go. It is like a war zone. Help us,” said one resident from Tehran, as explosions rang out from what Israel described as its latest wave of strikes on Iranian government targets.

From Sri Lanka to Azerbaijan

As Iran responded, warning sirens sounded in Israel, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and fire crews in Bahrain extinguished a blaze at a refinery following a missile strike.

With the war now in its sixth day, Azerbaijan became the latest country drawn in, as it accused Iran of firing drones at its territory and ordered its southern airspace closed for 12 hours.

Iran, which has a significant Azeri minority, denied it had targeted its neighbour, but the episode underlined how rapidly the war has spread since the surprise US and Israeli airstrikes that killed Khamenei on Saturday.

Along with the gleaming cities of the Gulf, in easy range of Iranian drones and missiles, Cyprus and Türkiye have both been targeted.

European nations have pledged to deploy ships to the eastern Mediterranean, and hostilities have been seen as far afield as the coastal waters off Sri Lanka, where a US submarine sank an Iranian warship on Tuesday, killing 80 crew members and drawing Iranian vows of revenge.

In Iran, at least 1,230 people have been killed, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, including 175 schoolgirls and staff killed at a primary school in Minab in the country’s south on the first day of the war.

Netanyahu says ‘much work still lies ahead’

Although some international financial markets recovered from falls earlier in the week, the economic impact of the campaign intensified, with countries around the world cut off from a fifth of global supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas and air transport still facing chaos and global logistics increasingly snarled.

On Thursday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had hit a US tanker in the northern part of the Gulf and the vessel was on fire, the latest of numerous reports of such attacks.

Visiting an air force base in the south of the country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s achievements so far in Iran had been “great” but that “much work still lies ahead”.

Iran’s foreign minister said the US would “bitterly regret” the precedent it had set by sinking a ship in international waters without warning.

Beirut residents told to evacuate

The Israeli military warned residents to leave Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday, instructing them to move north and east of the Lebanese capital, the first time Israel has issued a warning covering entire neighbourhoods in the Hezbollah-controlled area.

“Save your lives, evacuate your homes immediately,” Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X, posting a map highlighting four neighbourhoods of the southern suburbs — an area adjacent to Beirut airport.

Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East on Monday, when Iran-backed Hezbollah opened fire, sparking intensified Israeli airstrikes largely focused on the southern suburbs, southern Lebanon and eastern Lebanon.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military ordered residents to leave a swathe of southern Lebanon — an area amounting to about 8 per cent of Lebanon’s territory.

In response, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday France would strengthen its cooperation with the Lebanese armed forces and provide armoured transport vehicles as well as operational and logistical support.

“Everything must be done to prevent this country, so close to France, from once again being drawn into war,” Macron said in a post on X.

“At this moment of great danger, I call on the Israeli prime minister not to expand the war to Lebanon. I call on Iranian leaders not to further draw Lebanon into a war that is not its own.”

At least 102 people have been killed, 638 wounded and at least 90,000 displaced from their homes since Monday, according to the Lebanese authorities.

Iranian TV hacked

Two sources familiar with Israel’s battle plans said having killed many Iranian leaders during nearly a week of strikes, Israel was now planning to enter a second phase when it would target underground bunkers where Iran stores its missiles.

Israel has said its aim is to overthrow Iran’s clerical rulers. The US says its goal is to prevent Iran from being able to project force beyond its borders, but it has also called on Iranians to rise up and seize power.

State television was hacked on Thursday, airing a video of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, who has emerged as a significant opposition figure.

“A heavy burden of destiny rests upon the shoulders of us all. And we, together, will walk this path until final victory. Long live Iran.”

For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.