The Iranian regular armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have pledged allegiance to the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s state media reported.

In a statement issued immediately after the election of the new leader, the IRGC said it is “fully ready to obey orders from Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Khamenei and protect the values of the Islamic Revolution,” according to Tasnim News Agency.

Iran has named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father, Ali Khamenei, as supreme leader. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is the second son of Ali Khamenei, who led the Islamic Republic for 36 years and was killed on February 28 in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes.

The election was made by a vote of the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 Islamic clerics tasked with choosing the new supreme leader.

Oil prices spiked near $120 per barrel before falling back slightly on Monday as the Iran war intensified, threatening production and shipping in the Middle East and pummeling financial markets, The Associated Press reports.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, surged to $119.50 per barrel but later was trading at $112.98.

West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, spiked at $119.48 per barrel but fell back to $110.17.

Aluminum soared to its highest in four years as ⁠supply concerns due to the Middle East war intensified. Benchmark three-month aluminum on the London Metal Exchange hit its highest since March 2022 at $3,544 per ton, according to Reuters.

Bahrain’s Bapco Energies declared force majeure ‌on its group operations on Monday following a recent ⁠attack on its refinery complex, Reuters reported citing a statement from the company.

Bapco said that all domestic market needs ‌remain ⁠fully secured and supplies will continue without disruption, ⁠supported by proactive plans in ⁠place.

The decision was declared after Iranian strikes on March 9, according to Bahrain’s state media.

Another attack targeted Sitra island, wounding at least 32 people, including children. Four of the victims are in critical condition.

The U.S. and Israel launched what they described as a pre-emptive strike against Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran was developing a nuclear weapon and posing a threat—an allegation Iran has denied. In response, Iran launched counterattacks, firing missiles and drones at Israel, as well as at U.S. assets and other targets across the Middle East. 

 The US State Department said it ordered “non-emergency U.S. government employees and U.S. government employee family members” to leave Saudi Arabia.

“On March 8, 2026, the Department of State ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and U.S. government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to safety risks,” the U.S. government said in its travel advisory for Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. State Department has advised U.S. citizens to reconsider travel to Saudi Arabia due to safety risks amid Iranian strikes.

The U.S. and Israel launched what they described as a pre-emptive strike against Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran was developing a nuclear weapon and posing a threat—an allegation Iran has denied. In response, Iran launched counterattacks, firing missiles and drones at Israel, as well as at U.S. assets and other targets across the Middle East. 

The U.S. struck a vessel in the eastern Pacific on Sunday, killing six people, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said.

The U.S. military said the vessel was operated “by Designated Terrorist Organizations” and six “narco-terrorists” were killed.

“On March 8, at the direction of SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Six male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” SOUTHCOM said in a post on X.

The U.S. has conducted 45 strikes in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific since September 2025, killing more than 157 people.

The latest such strike, on Feb. 23, killed three people, according to NBC News.

NBC News reported that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has argued that the strikes are in the country’s national security interest, preventing illicit drugs from entering the U.S. But they have drawn criticism from lawmakers and advocacy groups, who have scrutinized the legal justification for them.

U.S. 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.

Trump claimed that the Islamic Republic would have destroyed Israel if he and Netanyahu had not been around. “Iran was going to destroy Israel and everything else around it… We’ve worked together. We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel.”

The White House earlier said it expects the military operations against Iran to last from four to six weeks.

The U.S. and Israel launched what they described as a pre-emptive strike against Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran was developing a nuclear weapon and posing a threat—an allegation Iran has denied. In response, Iran launched counterattacks, firing missiles and drones at Israel, as well as at U.S. assets and other targets across the Middle East. 

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran. Over 10 people have died in Israel, with more than 20 deaths reported in Gulf states across the region.

More than 390 people were killed in Lebanon, where Israel began striking what it describes as Hezbollah targets. 

More Russian grain is en route to Armenia via Azerbaijani and Georgian territory. 

The Azerbaijani Azertac news agency reported that over 21,000 tons of grain have been shipped to Armenia by rail through Azerbaijani territory so far.

The figure includes the 488 tons which is en route, according to APA. 

In addition, 610 tons of fertilizer have been transported. 

The first Russian rail shipment to arrive in Armenia via Azerbaijan and Georgia occurred in November 2025.

The cargo passes through Georgian territory, as the rail connection between Armenia and Azerbaijan has not yet been restored.

The route has also been used for Kazakh grain imports.

G7 finance ministers will on Monday discuss the possible release of emergency oil reserves, Reuters reported citing a French ‌government source as saying in response to surging oil prices resulting from the Middle East conflict.

The talks were first reported by the Financial Times, which said the ⁠International Energy Agency would join the discussions.

Three G7 countries, including the U.S., have so far expressed support for the idea, the FT said, citing sources.

The report came as oil prices surged more than 25% on Monday to their highest levels since ‌mid-2022 ⁠as some major producers cut supplies and fears of prolonged shipping disruptions gripped the market due to the expanding U.S.-Israeli war with ⁠Iran, Reuters reported.

The volume of major arms transferred between states increased by 9.2 per cent between 2016–20 and 2021–25, according to a report released by a leading conflict think tank on Monday.

According to the report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), states in Europe more than trebled their arms imports, making it the biggest recipient region. Total exports by the United States, the world’s largest supplier of arms, increased by 27 per cent. This included a 217 per cent increase in US arms exports to Europe.

The increase in global arms flows was the biggest since 2011–15. It was overwhelmingly due to the growth in transfers to Ukraine (which received 9.7 per cent of all arms transfers in 2021–25) and other European states. Besides Europe and the Americas, arms imports to all other world regions decreased.

The United States supplied 42 per cent of all international arms transfers in 2021–25, up from 36 per cent in 2016–20. The USA exported arms to 99 states in 2021–25, including 35 states in Europe, 18 in the Americas, 17 in Africa, 17 in Asia and Oceania and 12 in the Middle East. For the first time in two decades, the largest share of US arms exports went to Europe (38 per cent) rather than the Middle East (33 per cent). Nevertheless, the top single recipient of US arms was Saudi Arabia (12 per cent of US arms exports).

France was the second largest supplier of major arms in 2021–25, accounting for 9.8 per cent of global exports. Its arms exports increased by 21 per cent between 2016–20 and 2021–25. France exported to 63 states, with the largest shares going to India (24 per cent), Egypt (11 per cent) and Greece (10 per cent). France’s arms exports within Europe rose more than fivefold (+452 per cent), but almost 80 per cent still went outside the region.

Russia was the only top 10 supplier to see its arms exports fall (–64 per cent). Its share of global arms exports shrank from 21 per cent in 2016–20 to 6.8 per cent in 2021–25. Russia supplied major arms to 30 states and 1 non-state actor in 2021–25. Nearly three quarters (74 per cent) of Russian arms exports went to three states in 2021–25: India (48 per cent), China (13 per cent) and Belarus (13 per cent).

Germany overtook China to become the fourth largest arms exporter in 2021–25, with 5.7 per cent of global arms exports. Almost a quarter of all German arms exports (24 per cent) went to Ukraine as aid (and another 17 per cent went to other European states). 

Arms exports by Italy increased by 157 per cent, pushing it from the tenth largest exporter in 2016–20 to the sixth largest in 2021–25. Over half of Italy’s exports went to the Middle East (59 per cent), while 16 per cent went to Asia and Oceania and 13 per cent to Europe.

Israel, the seventh largest arms supplier, increased its share of global arms exports from 3.1 per cent in 2016–20 to 4.4 per cent in 2021–25, and for the first time ever overtook the United Kingdom (3.4 per cent).

European states received 33 per cent of global arms imports, with the region’s imports increasing by 210 per cent between 2016–20 and 2021–25. After Ukraine, Poland and the United Kingdom were the biggest importers in Europe in the past five years. Almost half of arms transferred to European states came from the USA (48 per cent), followed by Germany (7.1 per cent) and France (6.2 per cent).

According to the report, threat perceptions concerning Russia, compounded by uncertainties over the USA’s commitment to defending its European allies, have boosted demand for arms among European member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The 29 current European NATO members’ combined arms imports grew by 143 per cent between 2016–20 and 2021–25. The USA supplied 58 per cent of these imports in 2021–25. The next biggest suppliers were South Korea (8.6 per cent), Israel (7.7 per cent) and France (7.4 per cent).

At 31 per cent, states in Asia and Oceania imported the second largest share of arms in 2021–25. This was despite a 20 per cent drop in volume compared with 2016–20. The fall was mainly due to decreasing arms imports by China (–72 per cent) and, to a lesser extent, by South Korea (–54 per cent) and Australia (–39 per cent). 

Four states in Asia and Oceania ranked among the 10 largest arms importers globally in 2021–25: India, Pakistan, Japan and Australia. The main supplier to the region in 2021–25 was the USA, which accounted for 35 per cent of regional arms imports. Russia accounted for another 17 per cent and China for 14 per cent. 

India was the world’s second largest arms importer. Its imports decreased marginally (–4.0 per cent) between 2016–20 and 2021–25. The largest share of Indian arms imports came from Russia, at 40 per cent—a significantly smaller share than in 2016–20 (51 per cent) and almost half that in 2011–15 (70 per cent). India is increasingly turning to Western suppliers. Arms imports by Pakistan grew by 66 per cent between 2016–20 and 2021–25. China supplied 80 per cent of Pakistan’s arms imports in 2021–25, up from 73 per cent in 2016–20. 

In East Asia, Japan (+76 per cent) and Taiwan (+54 per cent) saw large increases in their arms imports between 2016–20 and 2021–25. China dropped out of the top 10 arms importers for the first time since 1991–95, due to expanded domestic production of its own designs.

The Israeli Air Force has attacked the Russian House in the Lebanese city of Nabatieh, Head of Russia’s Federal Agency for International Humanitarian Cooperation Yevgeny Primakov said, Tass reported.

“Israeli warplanes delivered a strike on the partnership Russian House in the Lebanese city of Nabatieh. The cultural center’s head, Asaad Diya, is alive and is now in safety. They are our good friends, and the cultural center was not involved in any kind of military activities,” he wrote on Telegram. “The strike was unprovoked.”