Trump Vows to Escalate War, Iran Regrets Strikes on Neighbours, Apologises

*Iranian body to choose next supreme leader within 24 hours 

*We’ll continue with all our force, says Netanyahu 

*Report: Russia providing Iran intel to strike US assets 

*Arab League to meet today

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The United States has shown little sign of easing the pressure on Iran, with President Donald Trump warning yesterday that the Islamic Republic would be “hit very hard,” and suggesting that the conflict could expand further as the war between Tehran and the United States–Israel alliance enters its second week.
Meanwhile, Iran yesterday apologised over missile and drone strikes that hit neighbouring Gulf countries.
Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, however, said Tehran had no intention of targeting friendly neighbouring countries, stressing that recent strikes were aimed at American military installations across the Gulf.
A member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts said yesterday that the body would meet within a day to choose the country’s next supreme leader, Iranian media reported.
 “With divine assistance, this session will occur within the next twenty-four hours,” said Hossein Mozafari, one of the assembly’s 88 members, cited by the Fars news agency.
However, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel would continue its war with Iran “with all our force.”
“We have a systematic plan to eradicate the Iranian regime and achieve many other objectives,” Netanyahu said in a televised address.
Trump warned in a social media post that more Iranian officials would become targets, writing: “Today Iran will be hit very hard!” Trump noted Pezeshkian’s apology.
 “Under serious consideration for destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behaviour, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time,” Trump wrote, without elaborating.
 The Trump administration approved a new $151 million arms sale to Israel after the US president said he would not negotiate with Iran without its “unconditional surrender,” and US officials warned of a bombing campaign they said would be the most intense yet.
 Trump apparently referred to how Iran’s president apologised in an earlier address and claimed Pezeshkian “surrendered” to its neighbours in the Middle East and “promised that it will not shoot at them anymore.”
“This promise was only made because of the relentless U.S. and Israeli attack,” he wrote.
 “Iran is no longer the ‘Bully of the Middle East,’ they are, instead, ‘The Loser of the Middle East,’ and will be for many decades until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse! Today Iran will be hit very hard!” Trump added.

Tehran Says It Will Only Attack Nations with Bases Actively Used by US

Iran’s President, Pezeshkian, explained that Iran’s interim leadership council had approved a suspension of attacks on neighbouring states unless assaults on Iranian territory originate from those countries or from US facilities hosted within them.
 He said Tehran would only attack nations with bases actively used by the US.
Pezeshkian also dismissed Trump’s call for Iran to surrender unconditionally. “That’s a dream that they should take to their grave,” AP quoted him as saying.
Iran has reported heavy civilian casualties since the outbreak of the war, with its envoy to the United Nations saying that at least 1,332 Iranian civilians have been killed during the fighting.
 In the same vein, the escalating conflict has already begun rattling global energy markets, with observers warning that a prolonged war in the Gulf could disrupt oil supply routes and push prices sharply higher.
 Missile attacks and military activity around the Strait of Hormuz have raised fears of supply disruptions, as crude prices, specifically Brent, Nigeria’s oil benchmark, remain elevated at close to $93 per barrel as of yesterday evening.
Report: Russia Providing Iran Intel to Strike US Assets
Meanwhile, reports have emerged suggesting that Russia may be quietly assisting Tehran by providing intelligence that could help Iranian forces target US troops deployed across the Middle East.
Russia has allegedly provided Iran with information that could help it strike American warships, aircraft, and other assets in the region, two officials familiar with US intelligence said.
The officials, who were not authorised to comment publicly on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, cautioned that US intelligence has not uncovered that Russia is directing Iran on what to do with the information as the US, Israel, and Iran fire retaliatory salvos at American assets and allies in the Persian Gulf.
 Still, it’s the first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war that the US and Israel launched on Iran a week ago, the report first made public by the Washington Post noted.
 However, the White House downplayed reports that Russia was sharing intelligence with Iran about US targets in the region.
 White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that “it clearly is not making any difference with respect to the military operations in Iran because we are completely decimating them.”
 Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview at the weekend, said the US was “tracking everything” and factoring it into battle plans when asked about reports that Russia was aiding Iran.
 “The American people can rest assured their commander in chief is well aware of who’s talking to whom,” he said. “And anything that shouldn’t be happening, whether it’s in public or backchannelled, is being confronted and confronted strongly.”

It also emerged that the United States had started using British bases for certain operations against Iran. Britain’s defence ministry said the US had begun using the military sites for “specific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region”.

 UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, annoyed Trump for initially refusing to have any role in the US-Israeli war with Iran, which started a week ago, on February 28.

He later agreed to a US request to use two British military bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose”.

 Those bases are Fairford in Gloucestershire, western England, and the UK-US Diego Garcia base on the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Iran President Apologises for Strikes on Neighbours

 Iran’s president apologised yesterday for attacks on “neighbouring countries” even as its missiles and drones flew toward Gulf Arab states.

 “I should apologise to the neighbouring countries that were attacked by Iran, on my own behalf,” the president said.

“From now on, they should not attack neighbouring countries or fire missiles at them, unless those countries attack us. Let’s solve this through diplomacy,” he added.

Arab League to Meet Today over Iranian Attacks

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of the Arab League will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday (today) to discuss Iranian attacks on several of the group’s members, the bloc’s assistant secretary-general told AFP.

 The meeting, which will be held via videoconference, was requested by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, and Egypt, Hossam Zaki said.