Iran‘s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has made the remarkable decision to name his potential successors if he is assassinated.
Khamenei, who is hiding out in a bunker, picked an array of leaders to take over both his military and political duties if he is killed in Israeli airstrikes, the New York Times reports.crime
Tensions in the Mideast region have fired up in recent days – with both Iran and Israel launching barrages of strikes on one another as Donald Trump toys with the decision for US military intervention.
Israel has launched the largest military assault on Iran since the war in Iraq, intensifying the already fragile relationship between the two countries.
Officials told the New York Times that Khamenei is instructing the nation’s Assembly of Experts, the body of government overseeing the supreme leader, to choose his successor from three names that he provided.
Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was rumoured to succeed the role; however, officials told the Times that he was not included in the list given to the assembly.
Iranian officials have stood firm against caving to the Israeli government, with Khamenei saying in a recent televised address: ‘The people of Iran will stand against a forced war.’
However, fears that Israeli operatives have infiltrated top ranks of the Iranian government have left Khamenei rattled, according to the NYT sources.
‘It is clear that we had a massive security and intelligence breach; there is no denying this,’ Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior advisor to Iran’s speaker of Parliament, said.
The Supreme National Security Council announced on Friday that anyone working with Israel must turn themselves in by the end of the day or face execution.
Khamenei is an Islamist activist who played a pivotal role in the 1979 revolution to overthrow Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the US-backed leader.
Khamanei became a lieutenant to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the republic.
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After his death in 1989, Khamanei assumed the role of supreme leader and has enforced Sharia law in the region.
Khamanei has backed Hamas, the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthi movement in Yemen.
Some have argued that a post-Khamanei regime in Iran could potentially lead to the end of the Islamic Republic.
‘Sources inside Iran say that the regime’s command and control structures are collapsing at a rapid pace,’ Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran and opposition figure posted.
‘Meanwhile, the international community is beginning to realize that the Islamic Republic has no future. Our discussions about a post-Islamic Republic Iran have begun.’
Experts have also warned that an effort to overthrow the regime would destabilize the region and risk radicalization.
Tehran has been under lockdown since the Israeli attacks, shutting down the internet, blocking international calls, and evacuating populated areas.
The war has shown no signs of slowing down, as Israel launched strikes on an Iranian nuclear research facility on Saturday.
Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz also announced that three senior commanders were killed in a targeted attack.
Israel announced the death of Saeed Izadi, who was aware of the October 7 attacks
Among those killed was Saeed Izadi, an Iranian official who maintained ties with Hamas and was aware of the October 7 attacks.
Katz called the killing a ‘major achievement for Israeli intelligence and the Air Force.’
Since the initial airstrikes on June 13, at least 400 people, including civilians, have been killed, according to Iran’s health ministry.
‘As of this morning, Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of over 400 defenceless Iranians and left 3,056 others wounded by missiles and drones,’ health ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said in an update on Saturday.
‘Among the injured, 2,220 have been treated and discharged from Ministry of Health hospitals, while 232 received outpatient care at the scene of the attacks.
‘During this period, our dedicated medical teams across the country have performed 457 surgeries on the wounded. Fifty-four of those martyred were women and children.’
Iran has launched hundreds of missiles against Israel; however, most have been intercepted.
The world has watched on in horror, with diplomats and foreign leaders calling for an end to the violence.
Trump hasn’t issued a firm stance on US military intervention, announcing on Thursday that he would make his decision within the next two weeks.
Reported by MailOnline
