Israel has cut off head of octopus, will sever its arms, minister says

France is ready to defend its partners if they request assistance following Iranian retaliatory strikes and reserves the right to intervene, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday.

Barrot told BFM TV that the conflict was drawing in countries where France has defense agreements and military bases. He said French Rafale fighter jets have carried out air operations to secure the skies above French bases in the region.

He added that about 400,000 French nationals are in countries affected by the crisis and that France is prepared to evacuate those most at risk using commercial and military flights.

Iran’s internet blackout entered its fourth day on Tuesday, with nationwide restrictions in place for more than 72 hours, NetBlocks said.

"The silencing of authentic Iranian voices is fueling a surge in misinformation as pro-regime accounts fill the void with their own narrative," the internet monitoring group added.

Israel’s military said a navy strike in Beirut on Monday killed Reza Khazaei, a senior member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force who worked closely with Hezbollah.

The military said Khazaei headed the Quds Force’s efforts to assist Hezbollah in rebuilding its capabilities and served as chief of staff of the force’s Lebanon Corps.

It said he was responsible for liaising between Hezbollah and Iran, including overseeing the transfer of weapons and equipment and supporting Hezbollah’s weapons production programs in Lebanon.

The selection of a new supreme leader will not take long, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts said on Tuesday, days after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes.

The Assembly of Experts has sworn to choose the next leader based on religious criteria and its own judgment, without regard to individual preferences or political factions, Ali Moalemi said.

He said there was no cause for concern, and the body would select a person similar to Khamenei.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that US munitions stockpiles in medium and upper-medium grades were at their highest levels and that Washington had a “virtually unlimited supply” of those weapons.

"Wars can be fought 'forever,' and very successfully, using just these supplies (which are better than other countries finest arms!). At the highest end, we have a good supply, but are not where we want to be. Much additional high grade weaponry is stored for us in outlying countries," he wrote on Truth Social.

“The United States is stocked, and ready to WIN, BIG!!!” the US president added.