Trump says he needs to be 'involved' in selecting Iran's next leader

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump told Axios ​on Thursday that he needs to ‌be personally involved in selecting Iran's next leader.

"Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me. ​We want someone that will ​bring harmony and peace to Iran," ⁠Axios quoted Trump as saying ​in an interview.

"I have to be ​involved in the appointment, like with Delcy (Rodriguez) in Venezuela," Trump said.

Mojtaba Khamenei, son of ​Iran's late Supreme Leader, has survived ​the US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran ‌in ⁠which his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, Iranian sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Missiles fired by the United States and Israel struck two schools in the town of Parand, southwest of Tehran, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera.

The attack comes six days after a US‑Israeli strike on a girls’ school in the southern city of Minab, which killed 165 schoolgirls and staff, most aged seven to 12, and wounded at least 95 others, Fars reported.

Iranian officials said the Minab strike coincided with the start of a broader US‑Israeli military campaign against Iran, which has since triggered exchanges of fire across the Middle East.

Taking to X, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani said, "Some American officials have said that they intend to enter Iran on the ground with a few thousand troops." He added that "the land of Iran is no place for the hellish dance of demons."

Iran's military says launched drone attack on US military sites in Kuwait, Iraq

Iran's military said on Thursday that it had launched a drone attack against a US military site in Kuwait.

"Drone units of the armed force's navy targeted a site of the US forces Camp Udairi in Kuwait using combat drones," the army said in a statement broadcast by state TV. Camp Buehring, formerly known as Udairi, is a major US military facility in northwestern Kuwait.

The Iranian army also said it launched a drone attack on a US site in the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Erbil. "The headquarters of the American aggressor forces in Erbil, Iraq, was attacked by the army's ground forces' attack drones," the army said in a statement broadcast by state TV.

Meanwhile, Iran's state-run Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs has said that the death toll from US and Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic has risen to 1,230.
AFP was not in a position to verify the toll.

"The number of martyrs from the aggressive military attack carried out by criminal America and the usurping Israeli regime against the Islamic homeland had reached 1,230 as of March 5," the foundation said, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Azerbaijan vows to respond after four injured by Iranian drones

Azerbaijan warned on Thursday that it was ‌preparing unspecified response measures after two Iranian drones flew across its border and injured four people in the Nakhchivan exclave, raising concern about further spillover of the conflict in the Middle East.

"These attacks will not remain unanswered," the Azerbaijani defence ministry said in ​a statement.

It added that it was investigating the types of drones ⁠used in the attack and "preparing the necessary response measures to protect the ​territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country and to ensure the safety of civilians ​and civilian infrastructure."

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi denied Tehran had targeted Nakhchivan. "We do not attack our neighbouring countries," he told Azerbaijani outlet AnewZ.

The foreign ministry earlier demanded that Iran "clarify the ​matter in the shortest possible time, provide an explanation and take the necessary ​urgent measures to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future," adding that the incident "contributes ‌to ⁠increased tensions in the region".

It handed a note of protest to the Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Iran already have tense relations over Baku's growing economic, energy and military ties to NATO member Turkey and Israel, and the escalating US–Iran war risks ​touching off violence ​between the neighbours.

Azerbaijan ⁠said one drone fell on the terminal building of the Nakhchivan International Airport, which is approximately 10 kilometres across ​the border from Iran, and another drone landed close to ​a school ⁠building in a nearby village.

The four injured were taken to hospital, where they are in stable condition, the health ministry in the landlocked exclave of Azerbaijan bordering Armenia, ⁠Iran ​and Turkey told Reuters.

Video footage verified by Reuters ​showed black smoke rising near the airport and damage to the skylight inside the terminal building.

Separately, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said one missile and six drones fell inside the country. The defence minister also said it had intercepted six ballistic missiles and 125 drones.

Russia accuses US, Israel of trying to drag Arab countries into conflict

Russia on Thursday accused the United States ​and Israel of trying to drag Arab ‌countries into a wider Middle East conflict by provoking Iran into striking targets across the region and said there ​was no sign Washington and Tel Aviv ​would let up.

Arab states in the Gulf, all ⁠close US allies—some of which also ​have close ties with Russia—have come under ​Iranian drone and missile attacks since the United States and Israel launched their air strikes on Iran on Saturday.

Russian President ​Vladimir Putin spoke by phone to leaders of four Arab Gulf states on Monday, offering to use Moscow's ‌ties ⁠to Iran to relay concerns about Tehran's strikes on oil infrastructure across the region.

Russia's Foreign Ministry, in a statement on Thursday, accused the US and Israel of ​deliberately trying ​to draw ⁠Arab Gulf states into a wider conflagration.

"They deliberately provoked Iran into retaliatory ​strikes against targets in some Arab countries, ​which ⁠led to human and material losses, which the Russian side deeply regrets," the ministry said. "In doing so, they (Washington ⁠and ​Tel Aviv) are trying to ​drag the Arabs into a war for someone else's interests."