Iran-US war latest: Mojtaba Khamenei named as new supreme leader and will succeed father killed in strikes

The Gulf state’s energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, said it would take his country “weeks to months” to return to its normal delivery pattern after an Iranian drone strike at its largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant – with Europe likely to suffer a price spike as a result.

His prediction came as Goldman Sachs bank warned the price of oil could jump to as much as $150 per barrel by the end of March, hitting British consumers and businesses hard.

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The British couple jailed in Tehran told how bombs exploding next to their prison shattered windows and caused plaster to rain down from the ceiling.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, were sentenced last month to 10 years in prison on disputed espionage charges after being arrested while travelling through Iran on a global motorcycle tour in January 2025.

Now living through the Israeli-US bombardment of Iran, they recounted how last Saturday afternoon a bomb exploded so close to Evin Prison that the blast blew out the windows.

Sir Tony Blair criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s slow support for Donald Trump’s war on Iran, reportedly telling an event: “We should have backed America from the very beginning”.

The former prime minister told a private Jewish News event on Friday that Sir Keir should have let the Trump administration use British airbases to strike Iran.

He reportedly added: “If they are your ally and they are an indispensable cornerstone for your security … you had better show up”.

The US has ordered non-essential US diplomats and government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to safety risks.

The United States began to pull out non-essential staff from Gulf Arab countries last Monday, three days into the war.

The US ​embassy in Riyadh on Tuesday approved voluntary departures, four days into the war and on the same day that it was struck by Iranian drones that led to a fire that ​damaged the mission’s facilities.

The prime minister’s office said the leaders discussed the ongoing situation and the military cooperation between the two countries through the use of RAF bases.

“The Prime Minister also shared his heartfelt condolences with President Trump and the American people following the deaths of six U.S. soldiers,” a spokesperson said, adding: “They looked forward to speaking again soon.”

The president on Saturday attacked the prime minister in a post on his Truth Social platform, accusing Sir Keir of trying to “join wars after we’ve already won”, amid reports Britain was preparing naval assets for possible deployment.

Crude oil prices spiked past $100 per barrel on Sunday, after major Middle East producers cut output due to the blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway.

Trump suggested Iran should follow the path of Venezuela, where the replacement for deposed leader Nicolas Maduro is now working with the US. The US president also said Khamenei’s son was “unacceptable to me”.

He also threatened that a new leader would not “last long” if they did not have US approval.

“We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it,” Trump told ABC News.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani urged all sides involved in the Iran conflict to de-escalate on Sunday.

“We will continue talking to the Iranians, we will continue trying to seek de-escalation,” the prime minister told Sky News.

He said that the latest events had delivered “a huge shake‑up” to the trust underpinning their relationship with Iran.

“For the U.S., we would like to see a de-escalation, we would like to see … a diplomatic solution that addresses our concerns as well as their concerns,” he added.

“We need to ensure, first, that Iran should stop all attacks against Gulf countries and other countries that they are attacking and are not party of this war,” he said.