Trump expects to be 'involved' in appointing Iran's next leader, as Mideast war ramps up

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The U.S. And Israeli offensive in Iran shows no signs of abating. Here's what you need to know as the war enters Day 6:

The Israeli military sent a text message to every phone in south Beirut this afternoon, telling residents they had an hour to leave. Israel is expected to further pound Hezbollah positions in the densely populated Lebanese city. 

If every person alerted leaves, that would be some 250,000 people on the move.

Traffic is bumper to bumper in Beirut as cars, scooters and pedestrians hurriedly flee, often with little food or water, and nowhere to go other than away from the incoming attacks.

While Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says he will work to protect his people, he has little power against the Israeli military's massive firepower. Their fight is not with Lebanon, but rather the Iran-backed Hezbollah militants responsible for rocket and missile attacks on Israel.

Those in Beirut aren't the only ones running.

More than 100,000 residents of Tehran are believed to have fled the major attacks underway in the Iranian capital. The regime has warned against protests or gatherings of any kind; it would likely seek to crush anyone responding to U.S. Calls to rise up against the regime.

While videos of sinking ships and exploding bombs often dominate social media and headlines, ordinary people nearly always lose the most.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he must "be involved in the appointment” of Iran’s next leader, Axios is reporting.

In an exclusive interview with the U.S. News site, Trump said he wanted a situation like the one in Venezuela, where vice-president Delcy Rodriguez took over with Trump’s approval after the U.S. Captured Nicolás Maduro. He also said Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran's slain supreme leader, is the most likely successor, but said he wouldn’t accept that.

Trump’s comments run counter to those of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who has said regime change is not one of the U.S.’s goals.

Iran just launched a new wave of missiles, according to the country's state TV. 

Sirens are ringing out in Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi right now, while explosions have been reported in Tehran, according to multiple reports. Residents in Beirut are rushing to flee Lebanon's capital, creating stifling traffic. The exodus follows a mass evacuation order in Beirut's suburbs from the Israeli army, signalling plans for another possible attack.

Even though the war is currently contained in the Middle East, its effects are reverberating around the world, and European countries are increasingly being drawn into the conflict.

"Tehran is now trying to export the war to as many countries as it can," said EU Vice-President Kaja Kallas on X. "Today, EU Foreign Ministers and our Gulf partners will discuss what we can do together to break the cycle of violence."

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced earlier today that the U.K. Sent four additional Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar. The jets are intended to help the Gulf state defend itself against Iranian missiles and drones. Starmer's news conference followed news that a drone that took off from Beirut struck a British airbase on Cyprus. 

Meanwhile, Italy said Thursday that it has ramped up its national air-defence systems and confirmed it will send naval support to Cyprus, along with anti-missile and anti-drone defence systems to Gulf countries that have suffered from Iran's retaliatory strikes. 

France and Greece also agreed to co-ordinate deployment of military assets to Cyprus and other eastern Mediterranean. The two countries, along with Italy, said they will work together to safeguard shipping in the Red Sea.

Even Ukraine — a country currently defending itself against Russia — has been tapped by U.S. And Middle East allies for help in defending against Iranian Shahed drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will help as long as Ukraine's ability to defend itself isn't compromised and that its efforts bring diplomatic benefits.

“We help to defend from war those who help us, Ukraine, bring a just end to the war,” with Russia, Zelenskyy said.

Repatriation efforts are also well underway, with hundreds of citizens from countries like Germany, Spain and Bulgaria returning home today.

5 days into the Iran war: Are we still at the beginning?

In an operational update provided by the U.S. Yesterday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said shots fired by Iran's ballistic missiles were down 86 per cent from the first day of fighting. But experts say it's hard to know for sure what Iran's capabilities are — and whether they're being stretched thin.

"No one knows the answer for two reasons," said Janice Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs. "Some of the missile launchers — especially for the big important ballistic missiles — are hidden, and getting an accurate count is really hard." 

A second factor is that Iran may be storing a lot underground, she said. 

"The fact that the missiles being fired against the Gulf and against Israel are fewer doesn't tell us what the Iranian government is holding in reserve," Stein said. "This is a war of survival for them." 

When debris from an intercepted Iranian missile struck the Fairmont The Palm, a five-star hotel on Dubai's opulent manmade archipelago, on Feb. 28, it pierced not just the country's advanced missile defence system but also its carefully crafted image of security.

For decades, the United Arab Emirates has positioned itself as an economic and cultural hub, connecting European and Asian markets.

According to government statistics, the country had a population of about 11.3 million people as of 2024, the vast majority of whom are expats. 

But on Saturday, just hours after the U.S. And Israel launched massive strikes against Iran that killed the country's longtime Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the U.A.E. Came under fire like never before.

Three people have been killed and dozens of others are injured, mostly from falling debris. 

Alexander Debare, a 37-year-old entrepreneur who was born and raised in the capital of Abu Dhabi, said he heard two "very loud" bangs.

"It was two missiles which had been intercepted," he said. "But it's not a noise that we're used to."

Global Affairs Canada is urging Canadians to leave the Emirates as soon as possible, saying the threat of missiles and drones remains.

Read the full story here. 

The strike, which killed at least 165 people, mostly children, according to Iranian state TV, occurred on Saturday, during the first wave of U.S. And Israeli operations against Iran. 

"It was precise targeting of a military facility for the IRGC," said Yousef Riazi, a military researcher at Factnameh, an Iranian fact-checking group out of Toronto.

"According to satellite images, the impacts shows a pattern of precision-guided munitions … there shouldn't be any mistakes."

He says the fact a school was struck shows it was "either the fault of a weapons system or a huge mistake CENTCOM made with intelligence gathering."

Read the full report by Ivan Angelovski, Eric Szeto and Britnei Bilhete here.

The U.S. And Israeli offensive in Iran shows no signs of abating. Here's what you need to know as the war enters Day 6:

Here's what you need to know as ​the war enters its sixth day, many Western and European allies of the U.S. And Israel have been drawn in militarily even as some voice misgivings about the war's origins and potential for long-lasting repercussions. The decisions involved include allowing the U.S. Use of European airbases and protection of the continent's airspace.

While remarking that the alliance "is not itself involved," in the conflict, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told Reuters that "without European allies, the U.S. Would have found it very difficult to launch this campaign against Iran."

Rutte also said the shooting down of a ballistic missile headed for Turkey on Wednesday by NATO air defences alone wouldn't trigger NATO's Article 5 mutual defence clause. Iran on Thursday denied it had fired the missiles, saying it respects the sovereignty of "friendly" Turkey.

Italy — together with Spain, France and the Netherlands — will send naval assets to protect Cyprus soon, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament in Rome Thursday. Those countries have not independently confirmed Crosetto's statement. A British airbase on Cyprus was targeted by an Iranian-made drone on Monday, and the U.K. Said it would deploy more military assets there.

In Australia, Foreign Minister Penny Wong refused to say whether members of its military were on a U.S. Submarine that torpedoed a Iranian ship, citing national security reasons. Australia's military partnership with the U.S. Sees dozens of its service members serve on American submarines.

I'm Crystal Goomansingh reporting from Jerusalem. The Home Front Command in Israel is easing emergency restrictions — switching from essential activity to limited. 

People are now allowed to return to work and have gatherings of 50 or more as long as there is a shelter nearby. 

Schools, however, will remain closed. 

With the changes, the Home Front Command — which falls under the Israel Defence Forces — says people should still adhere to all emergency alerts when incoming strikes are detected. 

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