Internet blackout in Iran enters ninth day

US President Donald Trump praised Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and said she was willing to help the United States and Israel in their war with Iran, according to remarks reported by Italy’s Corriere della Sera.

“I love Italy, I think she is a great leader,” Trump said in a telephone interview with the newspaper, describing Meloni as a friend who “always tries to help.”

Italy has said it plans to send air-defense aid to Persian Gulf countries facing Iranian strikes, while an Italian navy vessel is preparing to sail to Cyprus as part of a European mission to help protect the island after it came under Iranian fire.

The United States is pressing Sri Lanka not to repatriate Iranian sailors rescued after a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean last week, according to an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters.

A US submarine torpedoed the Iranian frigate Dena about 19 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern port city of Galle on Wednesday, killing dozens of sailors.

The strike marked the first time the United States has sunk a naval vessel in combat since World War Two and showed the widening geographic scope of the war involving Iran.

Sri Lankan authorities rescued 32 survivors from the Dena, with about 20 later moved to an air force camp after being treated in hospital, sources told Reuters.

At the same time, Sri Lanka has taken custody of the Iranian naval auxiliary vessel Bushehr, which had become stranded inside the country’s exclusive economic zone. Colombo began offloading its 208 crew members on Thursday.

According to the US cable, Washington asked Sri Lanka to ensure that neither the Bushehr crew nor the Dena survivors are sent back to Iran during the conflict.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said his country had a “humanitarian responsibility” to assist the sailors, while US officials said the ultimate decision rests with Sri Lanka under its own laws and international obligations.

Ahmad Alamolhoda, Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, said the vote on Iran’s next leader has already taken place and a new leader has been selected.

He said reports suggesting the Assembly of Experts had not yet reached a decision were “completely false” and added that, under the constitution, no one – including members of the Assembly – has the right to change that decision.

Alamolhoda said the matter now rests with Ayatollah Hosseini Bushehri, the official responsible for the Assembly’s secretariat, who he said is tasked with conveying and publicly announcing the body’s decision.

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Israel’s military warned that it would pursue any successor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as anyone involved in appointing the next leader.

In a statement, the Israeli military said Iran’s ruling system was trying to rebuild itself and choose a new leader after Khamenei’s killing, and said the Assembly of Experts was expected to convene soon in Qom.

The military said Israel would continue to track “every successor” and “every person who seeks to appoint a successor,” and issued a direct warning to those planning to take part in the meeting.

“We warn all those who intend to participate in the meeting to choose a successor that we will not hesitate to target you as well,” it said.

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that a prolonged war could leave the country unable to sell or even produce oil.

“If the war continues like this, there will be neither a way to sell oil nor the ability to produce it,” Ghalibaf wrote on social media.

He also criticized US President Donald Trump’s comments about oil prices, saying that the conflict risks harming not only US interests but also those of countries across the region and the world.

“Trump said oil prices would not rise very much, now that they have risen, he says they will soon be corrected.”