A member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, the body tasked with selecting the country's Supreme Leader, on Sunday said that a majority of assembly members want Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the next leader.
While no official decision has yet been announced, this marks the first time an assembly member has spoken openly about the matter.
"The enemy is trying to disrupt a majority in-person meeting of the Assembly of Experts by attacks, but the members of the Assembly of Experts have practically reached an option," Mehr News Agency quoted Asgar Dirbaz, member of the Assembly of Experts, as saying.
"The majority's opinion is in favour of the son of His Eminence (i.e., Ali Khamenei's son)," Dirbaz added.
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'He's Going To Have To Get Approval From US': Trump
President Donald Trump said that any successor of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would need approval from the United States, warning that without it, he would not last long.
"He’s going to have to get approval from us. If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long. We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it," Trump said.
"I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again or worse let them have a nuclear weapon," he added.
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Israel Warns Khamenei's Successor Will Be 'Target For Elimination'
Israel has warned that any successor of late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be considered the next target for assassination. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel would assassinate whoever is appointed to replace the 86-year-old Shia cleric.
In a post on X, Katz said, "Any leader selected by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan for Israel's destruction, threatening the United States, the free world and countries in the region, and suppressing the Iranian people, will be a certain target for assassination, no matter his name or where he hides."