The war entered its tenth day with Iran naming Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late supreme leader, as the country’s new supreme leader amid signs of internal divisions. While President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized for attacks on neighboring countries, hard-liners signaled the military campaign would continue. The new leader has not spoken publicly, inheriting both an expanding regional conflict and domestic unrest.

Fighting intensified over the weekend, with strikes on oil depots in Tehran and reported attacks on critical infrastructure in Gulf nations, including a desalination plant in Bahrain. Israel said it destroyed key missile and air force facilities linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and warned the conflict would be prolonged. Civilian casualties and displacement mounted in Lebanon, Israel, and several Gulf countries.

The United States confirmed additional troop deaths and warned Iran against launching attacks from populated areas. Missile and drone strikes spread across the region, hitting or threatening sites in Iraq, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, while Saudi Arabia reported its first fatalities. Oil prices surged above one hundred dollars per barrel, air travel was disrupted, and tens of thousands of Americans left the region as fears grew of a broader regional escalation.