Trump says he is ‘not happy’ with Khamenei’s son as Iran’s new Supreme Leader as France

US President Donald Trump has told Fox News he is ‘not happy’ about Iran’s decision to select Mojtaba Khamenei as its new Supreme Leader.

When asked what he would do to the Islamic leader, Trump responded: ‘Not going to tell you…Not going to tell you. I’m not happy with him.’

Khamenei has previously been branded ‘unacceptable’ by Trump who last week made his feelings clear about the Ayatollah’s son.

Trump said somewhat sarcastically that ‘at some point they’ll be calling me to ask who I’d like’ to replace the Ayatollah.

The president has said he would personally select a new leader and Khamenei’s son was ‘unlikely’ and ‘unacceptable’.

Khamenei, excluded from a list of three senior clerics his father reportedly identified last year, was on Sunday announced as the Ayatollah’s successor after being appointed by the regime’s 88-person assembly.

The leader has strong links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was chosen by Iran’s Assembly of Experts ‘under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards’, according to Iranian media.

The US-Israel war with Iran has entered its tenth day with mayhem continuing across the Middle East since the fighting began last month.

If you’re just joining us, French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a plan to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help oil and gas supplies flow through the passage once again.

The US Navy has reportedly attacked an Iranian warship and two other vessels in the Persian Gulf.

Meanwhile, oil prices are surging worldwide as global markets slid today and Donald Trump has declared he and Benjamin Netanyahu will make a ‘mutual’ decision on when to end the war.

Here are the key developments on Monday afternoon.

• France has announced plans to deploy eight warships to the Middle East in a ‘purely defensive’ mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz
• An Iranian warship and two other vessels have reportedly been attacked by the US Navy during airstrikes on the port city of Bandar Abbas
• NATO have shot down a second Iranian missile in Turkish airspace
• Oil prices rise to above $100 a barrel for first time in four years as global markets slid at the start of trading
• Donald Trump says he and Benjamin Netanyahu will make ‘mutual’ decision on when to end Iran war
• Vladimir Putin offers ‘unwavering support’ to Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei
• Bahrain’s only oil refinery has been struck by an Iranian missile as Tehran targets energy installations across the Gulf
• The UAE confirmed two members of its armed forces were killed in a helicopter crash when the aircraft malfunctioned during the defence against Iranian drones
• Pete Hegseth, the US Defense Secretary, last night guaranteed Iran will ‘surrender’ and President Donald Trump will set the terms of their defeat
• Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, was selected by the country’s Assembly of Experts to succeed his father
• Iranian state television has reported Khamenei is ‘wounded’ but did not elaborate on how the injuries were caused
• The US has identified the seventh solider killed during Operation Epic Fury

President Donald Trump said on Monday his conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin as ‘very good’ and said he and the Russian leader discussed the ‘never-ending fight’ between Russia and Ukraine.

He said it was a ‘positive call on that subject.’

Trump also said Putin ‘wants to be helpful’ on the Mideast. He said he told Putin that ‘you could be more helpful by getting the Ukraine Russia war over with.’

‘But we had a very good talk and he wants to be very constructive,’ Trump said.

When asked on Monday whether the federal government was investigating reports of sleeper cells loyal to Iran being activated in the United States, President Donald Trump started to blame the Democrats.

He said that the Department of Homeland Security is the agency who would be investigating those claims.

But the department is currently shut down as Republicans and Democrats disagree on funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Monday the government will supply a reconnaissance plane and missiles to the United Arab Emirates to help defend Australians and other civilians there.

The country will send an E-7A Wedgetail radar aircraft to provide long-range reconnaissance capability and secure the region’s airspace.

The plane will be operated by 85 crew members, Defense Minister Richard Marles added.

Australia will also send an unspecified number of advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles for defensive purposes, the defense minister said.

‘This equipment is being deployed for the defense of the countries of the Gulf, in particular the UAE, where there are significant numbers of Australians who reside,’ Marles said.

Still, Albanese insisted his government is not taking offensive action against Iran and will not deploy Australian troops to the country.

President Donald Trump claimed at his press conference on Monday that Iran was planning ‘to take over the Middle East’ if the US and Israel did not strike.

‘Iran’s a very powerful country. They were going to take over the Middle East. If we did not hit them, they were going to take over the Middle East,’ he said.

President Donald Trump said on Monday he has not seen the video suggesting a US Tomahawk is responsible for the strike on an Iranian girls’ school.

But, he noted that ‘a Tomahawk is very generic.’

‘Tomahawk is sold and used by other countries,’ the president said, adding that the federal government is investigating the incident.

US President Donald Trump claimed on Monday that ‘two levels of leadership’ have been eliminated in Iran.

‘Look, everything they had is gone including their leadership,’ he said while sidestepping a question on whether he has achieved regime change.

The country on Sunday announced that Mojtaba Khamenei will take over as its new Supreme Leader.

Footage shared online showed an F-16E of the United Arab Emirates Air Force using an air-to-air missile to shoot down an Iranian drone on Monday.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he is fulfilling a promise he made when he first announced that he was running for president ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

He recounted how he vowed at the time to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons.

President Trump claimed at a news conference on Monday that 5,000 Iranian nuclear sites have been struck since the US began its operation in Iran.

‘We’re achieving major strides toward completing our military objective, and some people could say they’re pretty well complete,’ he said at a press conference.

‘We’ve wiped every single force in Iran out very completely.’

But, the president said, he has left some key targets ‘for later.’

‘We’ve left some of the most important targets for later,’ Trump said, noting the targets involve ‘electricity production and many other things.’

‘So we’re not looking to do that if we don’t have to,’ he said.

‘But they’re the kind of things that are very easy to hit, but very devastating if they are hit. We are waiting to see what happens before we hit them.’

US President Donald Trump claimed in his speech to House Republicans that Iran would have attacked within ‘a week’ if the US and Israel did not attack on February 28.