The Assembly of Experts, the Iranian body of clerics tasked with selecting a new supreme leader after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reportedly picked his son as the most likely candidate.
The clerics were considering announcing as early as Wednesday that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, would take his father’s place, but were reluctant to put a target on his back, Iranian officials told The New York Times.
The Assembly of Experts, comprising 88 clerics, held two meetings, one in the morning and one in the evening, according to the officials, the Times reported on Tuesday.
Iran International, a London-based, anti-regime news outlet, reported with certainty that the clerics had elected Mojtaba. However, no official Iranian source confirmed it. Analysts told Iran International that Mojtaba is known as one of the architects of the repression against Iran’s people.
He is closely linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday, “Any leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue the plan for Israel’s destruction, to threaten the U.S. and the free world and the countries of the region, and to oppress the Iranian nation, will be an unequivocal target for elimination.
“It doesn’t matter what his name is or the place where he hides,” he said.
“The Prime Minister and I instructed the IDF to prepare and act using all means to carry out the mission as an integral part of the objectives of ‘Operation Lion’s Roar,’ ” Katz said.
כל מנהיג שימונה ע"י משטר הטרור האיראני כדי להמשיך ולהוביל את התוכנית להשמדת ישראל, לאיים על ארה"ב והעולם החופשי ומדינות האזור, ולדכא את העם האירני - יהיה יעד חד משמעי לחיסול.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) March 4, 2026
לא חשוב מה שמו והמקום בו יסתתר.
רה"מ ואני הנחינו את צה"ל להיערך ולפעול בכל האמצעים למימוש המשימה כחלק…
On Tuesday, Israel’s air force struck the building in Qom, a Shia power center, where the Assembly was set to meet, in what reports described as an effort to disrupt the process of appointing a new supreme leader. The building was empty, according to state-linked Iranian media.
Israel’s Air Force also completed another wave of strikes against Iranian regime headquarters across Tehran, the IDF said on Wednesday morning Israel time.
“As part of the strikes, the IDF dropped dozens of munitions on the Basij and internal security command centers that are subject to the Iranian terror regime,” it said. “The targeted command centers were used by the Iranian regime to maintain control throughout Iran and maintain the regime’s situational assessments.”
The United States and Israel, which launched their preemptive strike against Iran on Feb. 28, have increasingly spoken of regime change as the ultimate goal of operations against Iran.
