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Issued on: 09/03/2026 - 04:38Modified: 09/03/2026 - 05:20
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An oil tanker is pictured offshore in Dubai on March 1, 2026. © Fadel Senna, AFP Oil prices eclipsed $115 per barrel on Monday as the Iran war intensified, threatening production and shipping in the Middle East. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, surged to $115.31, up 24% from its Friday closing price of $92.69. On Sunday, Iran's Assembly of Experts on Sunday named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his late father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's new supreme leader. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
China's envoy to the Middle East urged de-escalation in the conflict-ridden region and called for attacks on civilians to be condemned during talks with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Beijing said Monday.
The war, triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran, has threatened global energy security and trade, as well as China's oil supplies.
Beijing is a close partner of Tehran and condemned the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but it has also criticised Iranian strikes against several Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, since the outbreak of the conflict.
Oil prices eclipsed $115 per barrel on Monday as the Iran war intensified, threatening production and shipping in the Middle East.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, surged to $115.31, up 24% from its Friday closing price of $92.69.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, was selling for $116.33 a barrel. That’s 28% higher than its close Friday at $90.90.
Israel's military said it struck the Beirut area early Monday, targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Israeli forces "struck infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in Beirut", the military said in a brief statement.
Several explosions were heard on Monday in the Qatari capital Doha, AFP journalists said, as Gulf nations reported new attacks with Iran pressing its retaliatory strikes across the region.
Doha has been targeted by waves of Iranian drones and missiles since Iran launched a sprawling retaliation campaign across the Gulf in the wake of US and Israeli attacks against the Islamic republic.
Qatar's defence ministry said on Monday that its forces had intercepted a missile attack.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said the kingdom intercepted and destroyed two drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field in the southeast of the country.
Kuwait's defence ministry said the country's air defences were working to intercept a missile and drone attack on Monday.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that when to end the war with Iran will be a "mutual" decision made with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking by phone with The Times of Israel, Trump said Netanyahu will have input on resolving the conflict.
"I think it’s mutual... a little bit. We’ve been talking. I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account," said Trump.
Iran launched on Monday its first missile attack at Israel after the appointment of the Islamic republic's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, state broadcaster IRIB said.
"Iran fires first wave of missiles under Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei towards occupied territories," IRIB said on its Telegram channel.
It posted a picture of a projectile bearing the slogan "At Your Command, Sayyid Mojtaba," a Shiite Muslim religious reference.
In Israel, sirens warning of incoming missiles sounded across much of the country's north and centre, including the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, according to the military's Home Front Command.
Police said officers were called to at least two sites in central Israel, where according to local media interceptor debris fell.
An Israeli landing by helicopter on the eastern ridge near the Lebanese-Syrian border was reported early Monday, with heavy fighting ensuing, according to the state-run National News Agency.
In a statement, Hezbollah said that Israeli helicopters were observed approaching from Syria, with some landing troops in the Sarghaya plain. The group said its fighters engaged the helicopters and ground forces, and the clashes were ongoing.
No statement from Israel was immediately available regarding the reported landing and clashes.
US President Donald Trump offered assurance to consumers as oil prices eclipsed $100 per barrel for the first time in more than three and a half years Sunday, with the Iran war hindering production and shipping in the Middle East.
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” Trump said in a social media post. “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY.”
Iranian state TV early Monday said Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the country’s late supreme leader, has been named his successor.
He had long been considered a contender, even before an Israeli strike killed his father at the start of the war, and despite never being elected or appointed to a government position.
Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard answers to the supreme leader, and the younger Khamenei will have the central say in war strategy.
U.S. President Donald Trump told ABC News earlier Sunday he wants a say in who comes to power once the war is over; a new leader “is not going to last long” without his approval, he said.
Iranian state TV early Monday said Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the country’s late supreme leader, has been named his successor.
Lebanon's social affairs minister said Sunday that more than half a million people have been registered as displaced since the outbreak of the latest fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
The US military announced an American service member died of injuries sustained during an Iranian attack on troops stationed in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
The United States said late Sunday that it was ordering embassy staff to leave Saudi Arabia as Iran strikes the kingdom in retaliation for an attack by Washington and Israel.
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