• US president calls Mojtaba’s appointment ‘bad idea’; says war could be ‘over soon’
• Kremlin says Putin gave Trump proposals for a quick settlement of conflict
• Israel launches more attacks on Tehran, Isfahan; Iran pledges bigger warheads in response
• Bahrain oil facilities attacked; Nato defences shoot down missiles aimed at Turkiye
• Two UAE servicemen killed; strike hits near Iraqi base, Baghdad airport

TEHRAN / WASHINGTON: Monday was a rough day for global markets, which saw Brent crude oil prices jumping to a peak of $119.50 as Iran launched fresh strikes on energy installations in the Gulf, before coming back down to around $82 a barrel.

For his part, US President Donald Trump predicted the war in the Middle East could be over soon, even as Tehran saw rallies in support of the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.

Iranian state media showed large crowds in several cities rallying behind the new leader, waving Iranian flags and holding portraits of his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by an Israeli strike on the war’s first day.

But Trump told NBC News that Iran’s leaders made a “big mistake” by elevating Khamenei, but predicted the war could be over before the timeline of four to five weeks he had earlier laid out.

“We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some people. And I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion,” Trump told a gathering of Republicans at his golf club in Doral, Florida.

“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” he said, in separate comments to CBS News.

The conflicting signals sent markets on a rollercoaster, with oil prices surging and stock markets nosediving before swinging in the other direction after Trump’s comments and reports of a possible ease in sanctions on Russian energy.

Putin-Trump call

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a telephone conversation on Monday with US President Donald Trump, put forward proposals for a quick settlement of the conflict around Iran, a Kremlin aide said on Monday.

Giving an account of the conversation to reporters, the aide said the two leaders also discussed the conflict in Ukraine and noted that Russian gains should prompt Kyiv’s negotiators to move towards a settlement.

He described the entire discussion as “very substantial” and said it would “likely have practical significance for further work between the two countries”.

Putin “expressed several thoughts aimed at a quick political and diplomatic end to the Iranian conflict, including contacts that have taken place with leaders of Gulf states, the president of Iran and leaders of other countries”.

He said Trump “offered his assessment of developments in the U.S.-Israeli operation. Let me say that a very substantial and, without doubt, useful exchange of ideas took place.”

‘Operation Epic Mistake’

Iranian security chief Ali Larijani noted that the election of Mojtaba Khamenei had left Israel and the United States in “despair”.

He also said that security in the strategic Strait of Hormuz cannot be restored as long as the war continues, AFP reports.

“It is unlikely that any security can be achieved in the Strait of Hormuz amid the fires ignited by the United States and Israel in the region,” said Larijani in a post on X, after France said it and its allies were preparing a “defensive” mission to reopen the waterway.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran continued to try and prevent the US from striking his country from its bases across the Middle East.

He reiterated that Iran’s actions are “defensive” and not directly targeting neighbouring countries, but rather the source of US attacks originating from those nations.

He also said that Iran does not want to harm ordinary Americans who overwhelmingly voted to end involvement in costly foreign wars.”

“Blame for surging gas prices, costlier mortgages, and pummeled 401(k)’s lies squarely with Israel and its dupes in Washington,” he wrote on X.

He also mocked the American operation, calling it “Epic Mistake” instead of “Epic Fury”.

Attacks on Iran

The Israeli military claimed to have launched new “wide-scale” strikes on Tehran, Isfahan and southern Iran, and powerful explosions were heard in the Iranian capital just after midnight on Tuesday, at the same time as aircraft were heard overhead.

Several journalists across the city reported the blast, which was felt from many kilometres away.

In response, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force said the force and frequency of Iranian missile launches will increase and their range will become wider.

From now on, no missiles will be launched with warheads lighter than one ton, Majid Mousavi said, according to state media.

The Israeli military claimed on Monday that its air force hit dozens of sites linked to the Iranian government in several locations across Iran, including what it described as an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) drone headquarters.

It claimed drones had previously been launched from the facility towards Israel and that additional drones prepared for launch were stored there.

The military added that several drone storage sites and air defence systems were also targeted as part of the latest operation.

Meanwhile, at least three students were killed during the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran’s Lorestan province, Iranian state news agency Tasnim reported.

According to the report, Mohammad Saleh S Saket, a fourth-grade student at Azadegan Elementary School, Amir Ali Cheraghi, a seventh-grade student at Ostad Ovesta High School, and Anahid Rashno, a second-grade student at the late Rahimi School, were killed in strikes.

Gulf states

Gulf countries have borne much of Tehran’s response after the United States and Israel launched a massive aerial campaign against Iran on February 28.

Bahrain’s sprawling Al Ma’ameer oil facility was hit, causing a fire and damage, with the country’s state-owned energy firm Bapco declaring force majeure – the latest Gulf producer to activate the legal clause.

Manama also said another Iranian drone attack on the island of Sitra injured 32 people overnight.

Two Emirati servicemen were meanwhile killed after their helicopter crashed due to a “technical malfunction”, Abu Dhabi’s defence ministry said.

The UAE decried that it was being targeted “in a very unwarranted manner”, but stressed it will “not partake in any attacks against Iran”.

Separately, an airstrike hit a base belonging to the Hashed al-Shaabi coalition in northern Iraq, according to officials from the former paramilitary alliance.

An Iraqi security source also told Al Jazeera that the logistical support camp for the US embassy near Baghdad airport has been targeted.

Several more explosions were heard across Doha and warning sirens sounded in Manama, according to AFP journalists, as Iran pressed its aerial campaign against Gulf neighbours.

The Nato alliance also confirmed it intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Iran in Turkish airspace, in the second such incident in five days.

After the incident, Turkiye’s President Recep Erdogan again warned Tehran against taking “provocative steps” after Nato defence systems intercepted a second Turkey-bound ballistic missile launched from Iran.—Agencies

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2026