On Monday morning, the Iranian regime confirmed its new Supreme Leader is Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of former leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
U.S. and Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,200 Iranian civilians, while Iranian strikes have killed seven U.S. soldiers.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia “will consider” answering a call for assistance from some countries in the region.
What is the latest in the Middle East?
Supreme Leader
Since the 1979 Iranian revolution, the Supreme Leader has held almost all decision-making power in Iran. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei became Supreme Leader in 1989.
U.S-Israeli strikes killed Ali Khamenei on 28 February (AEDT).
On Monday, Iran’s Assembly of Experts – elected to choose and supervise the Supreme Leader – appointed Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba to the position.
Mojtaba
Mojtaba is Ali Khamenei’s second-eldest son. He has kept relatively out of the public eye.
Middle East Political and Information Network director Dr Eric Mandel told UK-based outlet Iran International the 56-year-old has “operated behind the scenes”.
Mojtaba is known to have served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a military force alongside the Iranian army, in his youth.
The Assembly of Experts called the vote “decisive”.
Death toll
On Sunday, the U.S-based Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency reported a civilian death toll of 1,200 people in Iran.
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After Hezbollah launched strikes on Israel last week, the Israeli Defense Forces struck southern Lebanon and Beirut.
The country’s Public Health Ministry’s latest update was on Friday, confirming 217 deaths.
More than 500,000 people have registered as displaced in Lebanon.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday (local time) that a seventh service person has died, after they were“seriously wounded” by an Iranian attack on 1 March in Saudi Arabia.
Also in Saudi Arabia, two civilians were killed on Sunday when a “military projectile” hit a residential area, according to the Saudi Civil Defense.
An Iranian strike on Israel in the first week of the conflict killed nine people.
The UK Defence Ministry said their forces intercepted an “attack drone fired from Iran towards Iraq” on Saturday night (local time).
Australia
On Sunday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong told ABC’s Insiders program that Australia has “been asked” and “will consider” providing military assistance to Gulf countries.
The ‘Gulf countries’ are generally accepted to be the states which are located on the western side of the Persian Gulf (Iran is on the eastern side), and are included in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
These are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Iraq also borders the Gulf, but is not on the Council.
Wong did not elaborate on what specific support the Government is considering, or which countries have reached out.
Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Ted O’Brien told ABC Radio National that the Coalition has “sought a briefing from the Government” about the request.
O’Brien said the Opposition is in support of assistance, adding that “the U.S. and Israel have been doing the heavy lifting for the free world”.
