Mohale FM Iran today named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signalling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, while the week-old U.S.-Israeli war with Iran sent oil prices surging and Asian stock markets into a nosedive.
Iranian institutions and politicians, from the foreign ministry to lawmakers, issued statements expressing their allegiance to the country’s new supreme leader as the war entered its 10th day and fresh missile and drone strikes reverberated across the Middle East.
G7 finance ministers will hold an emergency meeting today to discuss a possible joint release of oil reserves to tackle the surge in prices.
The benchmark oil price passed $100 a barrel earlier for the first time since 2022.
The oil reserves are co-ordinated by the International Energy Agency (IEA), with 32 members of the group holding strategic reserves as part of a collective emergency system designed for oil price crises.
Three G7 countries, including the US, have so far expressed their support for a possible joint release.
