Authorities in Iran have postponed the funeral ceremony for the late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as US and Israeli forces continue intense strikes across the country.
An official said there had been many requests from people wanting to attend the three-day event at a Tehran prayer complex and that infrastructure needed to be prepared. It had been due to begin on Wednesday night.
A member of the Assembly of Experts meanwhile said the clerical body was “close” to choosing a successor to Khamenei, who was killed in a strike at the start of the US and Israeli assault on Saturday.
Iran has responded by launching missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf states with US bases.
Kuwait’s health ministry said overnight that a girl had been killed by shrapnel that fell on a residential area during an Iranian attack.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said a US submarine sank an Iranian navy frigate in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka.
“[The warship] thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death,” he told reporters.
Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyyakontha said the bodies of 80 people on board the Iris Dena had been recovered.
Another 32 people have been rescued, while dozens more are missing.
Hegseth also said that US and Israeli forces would have total aerial superiority over Iran within days and would “soon” control the country.
“This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down,” he declared.
The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, said US President Donald Trump had “dragged the American people into an unjust war”.
