Iran’s ruling clerical establishment moved quickly after the reported killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But events on the ground may have moved even faster.
Khamenei, who led the Islamic Republic for nearly four decades, was reportedly killed during a joint U.S.–Israeli strike campaign over the weekend as part of Operation Epic Fury. While Tehran has not fully detailed the circumstances publicly, Iranian authorities confirmed that a constitutional succession process had begun.
Under Iran’s constitution, an 88-member Assembly of Experts is responsible for selecting the next Supreme Leader. In the interim, a three-man leadership council was formed Sunday to temporarily assume the powers of the office. The council includes President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, and a member of the Guardian Council selected by the Expediency Council.
.@TreyYingst reports that Israel “just struck” the “gathering where the Iranians were meeting to choose a new supreme leader.” pic.twitter.com/4WLjnM5oIQ
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) March 3, 2026
Names floated as potential successors reportedly included former President Hassan Rouhani, Hassan Khomeini (grandson of the Islamic Republic’s founder), Ayatollah Ali Reza Arafi, hardliner Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri, and Mojtaba Khamenei, the late leader’s son. Ultimately, however, the Assembly of Experts holds the authority to decide.
That process may now face disruption.
Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst reported that Israel struck a gathering in Tehran where senior Iranian officials were meeting to discuss succession. “I’m told by a senior Israeli official that the Israelis just struck the Supreme Council gathering where the Iranians were meeting to choose a new supreme leader,” Yingst said, describing it as a significant escalation.
The Times of Israel similarly reported that an Israeli defense source confirmed an airstrike on a building in Qom where senior clerics had gathered. According to the report, it remains unclear how many of the 88 Assembly members were present at the time.
Iranian media outlets offered mixed accounts. Tasnim News Agency reported that council offices in Qom were attacked and that another compound in Tehran had been struck the previous night. However, a separate Iranian report claimed the building targeted in Qom was empty at the time of the strike.
Geolocation of the building struck today in this video in the Iranian city of Qom. 34.62534, 50.87639
The building belongs to the “Assembly of Religious Experts” who select the next Islamic Revolutions’ Supreme Leader.https://t.co/nH9hNR5Tou pic.twitter.com/TgUGCYmmhv— Mehdi H. (@mhmiranusa) March 3, 2026
An Israeli security official, cited by ynet, said the strike occurred during deliberations over Khamenei’s successor but indicated that far fewer than the full Assembly membership was present.
Shortly before reports of the strike emerged, the Mossad’s Persian-language X account posted a pointed message: “No matter who is chosen today, his fate is sealed. Only the Iranian people will choose their future leader.”
Ayatollah Ali Movahedi Kermani, a member of the Assembly of Experts, had stated earlier that the selection of a new leader would not be prolonged.
If confirmed, the strike on a leadership succession meeting represents a dramatic escalation — not only targeting Iran’s military infrastructure but directly disrupting its constitutional transfer of power.
