Israel launches new strikes after Mojtaba Khamenei named Iran's leader

Iran said on Monday there was no room to discuss a ceasefire while military attacks by the United States and Israel continue.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran did not start the war and that it had been in negotiations when the conflict began.

“We are in the eleventh day of military aggression by the United States and the Zionist regime. We did not start this war,” he said at a news conference.

“Military aggression is ongoing and therefore in this situation there is little place to talk about anything other than defense and a crushing response to the enemy,” he added, saying all of Iran’s focus is currently on defending the country.

The European Union can no longer rely solely on the “rules-based” international system to defend its interests against growing threats, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday, as tensions including the Iran conflict weigh on global stability.

“We will always defend and uphold the rules-based system that we helped to build with our allies, but we can no longer rely on it as the only way to defend our interests,” von der Leyen told a conference of EU ambassadors.

She said the bloc must assess whether its institutions and decision-making structures, designed in a more stable postwar era, are keeping pace with current geopolitical challenges and whether they help or hinder the EU’s credibility as a global actor.

Iranian security forces have deployed to mosques and other public facilities in several cities, according to eyewitness accounts received by Iran International on Monday.

Witnesses said members of the Revolutionary Guards and Basij were positioned inside mosques in Tehran’s District 10, which were being used as operational hubs.

In Karaj, special police units and officers from the Phase 4 Mehrshahr station were seen at the Mehrshahr morgue facility, the witnesses said.

In Kazerun in southwestern Iran, residents reported that the Chamran and Imam Sajjad brigade barracks were evacuated and forces were redeployed to the Sarab Ardeshir recreational area.

Russia has prepared a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East, a source told TASS on Monday.

The draft expresses “deep concern over the current military escalation in the Middle East and beyond” and mourns the loss of life in the region.

It urges all parties to “immediately stop their military activities and refrain from further escalation,” and strongly encourages a return to negotiations without delay, making full use of political and diplomatic means.

The draft also underlines the importance of ensuring the security of all states in the Middle East and beyond, according to the text cited by TASS.

The situation around Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant remains tense but no strikes have been reported at the facility or its construction site, Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom said on Monday, citing its head Alexei Likhachev.

Likhachev said construction of additional units at Bushehr has been suspended, although more than 600 staff remain on site to maintain equipment and complete work that cannot be halted.

Iran’s judiciary warned on Monday that the assets of Iranians living abroad who cooperate with what it called enemy states could be confiscated under the Iranian law.

In a statement, the Office of the Prosecutor General said any cooperation with countries considered hostile — including the United States and Israel — that harms national security could lead to the seizure of all assets and other legal penalties.

The statement cited Article 1 of a law passed in October that increases penalties for espionage and cooperation with Israel and hostile countries against Iran’s national security and interests.

Under the law, operational actions or intelligence activity for Israel, the United States, or other "hostile" governments or groups could result in the confiscation of all assets and the death penalty, according to the statement.

The European Union will hold meetings of its oil and gas supply coordination groups on Thursday after the Iran war pushed oil prices above $100 per barrel, a European Commission spokesperson said on Monday.

The groups will assess the impact of the Middle East conflict on energy markets and review member states’ oil supply levels. EU countries are required to maintain oil stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of consumption.

The coordination groups bring together EU government representatives to monitor supply security and coordinate response measures during energy crises.

Iran’s internet blackout has entered its tenth day with connectivity at about 1% of ordinary levels after more than 216 hours, NetBlocks said.

“As regional hostilities intensify, some 90 million Iranians are silenced and cut off from the global internet under a state-imposed shutdown,” said the internet monitoring group.

Azerbaijan reopened its border crossings with Iran for all cargo traffic on Monday, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

The crossings, part of one of the shortest land routes linking Iran to its ally Russia, were closed last week after an Iranian drone attack targeted the Nakhchivan exclave.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev late on Sunday that Tehran had not been involved in the attack and an investigation was underway, Aliyev’s office said.

Explosions were heard in parts of Tehran and Isfahan provinces early on Monday, according to eyewitness accounts sent to Iran International.

Several explosions were heard at 8:00 am local time in the city of Qods in Tehran province.

The Lenjan area in Isfahan province saw attacks beginning around 4:30 am and continuing until about 7:00 am local time.

People living in Sedeh Lenjan were seen standing outside with blankets and watching the bombardment.