Bahrain’s Bapco Energies declares force majeure after Iran attack on refinery

Bahrain said on Monday that an Iranian drone attack in the Sitra area caused injuries and property damage.

Thick smoke rose from the direction of Bahrain’s Bapco oil refinery and surrounded the complex, Reuters reported citing a witness.

The Bapco refinery is Bahrain’s main oil refining facility and one of the most important sites in the country’s energy sector.

"We're willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful," Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told CBS News on the Iran war. “There’ll be a point where they’ll have no choice but to surrender.”

Hegseth said "this is only just the beginning."

"The ability for us to be up over the top and hunting with more conventional munitions, gravity bombs, 500-pound, 1,000-pound, 2,000-pound bombs on military targets-- that-- we haven't even really begun to start that effort of the campaign, which is gonna showcase even more how-- how we will execute on those objectives," Hegseth added.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday urged Israel to exercise caution in its choice of targets following Israeli strikes on Iranian oil depots, saying the country’s oil economy should be preserved to help Iranians rebuild once the Islamic Republic collapses.

"There will be a day soon that the Iranian people will be in charge of their own fate, not the murderous ayatollah’s regime," Graham said in a post on X.

"In that regard, please be cautious about what targets you select. Our goal is to liberate the Iranian people in a fashion that does not cripple their chance to start a new and better life when this regime collapses. The oil economy of Iran will be essential to that endeavor."

Earlier in the day, Axios reported that Israel's strikes on 30 Iranian fuel depots on Saturday went far beyond what the United States expected when Israel notified it in advance.

"The president doesn't like the attack. He wants to save the oil. He doesn't want to burn it. And it reminds people of higher gas prices," Axios reported citing a Trump advisor.

Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari told state television that more than two-thirds of the body’s 88 members attended the session held in Qom on Sunday, meeting the quorum required for the vote.

“Some of the members were not informed about the meeting and could not make it to the session even though they were in the city of Qom,” Heidari said.

Heidari added that Mojtaba Khamenei received almost 85% of the votes cast by those present.

The Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body elected for eight-year terms, is constitutionally responsible for appointing and overseeing Iran’s supreme leader. A minimum of two-thirds of its members must be present for such a decision to be valid.

If accurate, the figures would mean that at least about 59 members attended the meeting and that roughly 50 or more voted in favor of Khamenei.

Sources familiar with the discussions had earlier told Iran International that several members of the Assembly expressed objections to Mojtaba Khamenei’s selection earlier this week, warning that appointing the son of the late leader risks reinforcing perceptions of hereditary rule in the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his selection as the new Supreme Leader, saying the appointment marked the beginning of a new era of strength and dignity for the country.

In a message released after the Assembly of Experts announced Mojtaba Khamenei as the third leader of the Islamic Republic, Pezeshkian said the decision reflected the “wise and decisive” choice of the clerical body following the death of his slain father.

Pezeshkian said the selection would reinforce national unity and help Iran confront what he described as hostile plots by its enemies. He added that the legacy of Mojtaba Khamenei’s father had laid a strong foundation for the country’s future and said Iran could achieve lasting independence, scientific and technological progress, and broad development under the new leadership.