Israel strikes Qom building as clerics meet to choose Khamenei successor
Israel has struck a building in Iran’s holy city of Qom where senior clerics from the Assembly of Experts were reportedly gathering to select a successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on Saturday in joint US-Israeli strikes.
The Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body constitutionally responsible for appointing the supreme leader, had not convened for this purpose since naming Khamenei in 1989.
Iranian Assembly of Experts meet in 2014 (Photo: CC by 4.0)
An Israeli security official said it was not immediately clear how many of the assembly’s members were present in the building at the time of the strike. Iran’s state media insisted the targeted structure was an unused, dilapidated facility and not a meeting venue.
Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency posted a message in Persian on X declaring that regardless of who succeeds Khamenei, “his fate has already been decided”, with only the Iranian people ultimately determining their leadership. The post featured an image of dominoes bearing the names and photos of prominent clerics seen as potential successors.
The Israeli Defence Forces spokesman, Brigadier General Effie Defrin, confirmed the airstrike hit a site in Qom where senior clerics were believed to be deliberating succession, with the building heavily damaged or destroyed, according to multiple reports. Israeli officials told media outlets the attack occurred during the vote-counting phase to disrupt the process.
Iranian news agencies reported the compound was “flattened” in the strike, though Iranian state media insisted it had already been evacuated before the attack. No casualties have been confirmed. Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency described the targeted structure as an old auxiliary building no longer used for official sessions, while Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the attacks were carried out by “American-Zionist criminals”.
Iranian sources, including Tasnim news agency, described the strike as a joint US-Israeli operation on the assembly’s office, though US involvement has not been independently verified.
Despite the disruption, reports from Iran International and other outlets indicate the Assembly of Experts has elected Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the new supreme leader.
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (photo: CC by 4.0)
This occurred under reported pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with some accounts suggesting the body met virtually or in a secure alternate location after the strike.
The rapid dynastic transition has drawn widespread commentary on X, with users noting the hereditary shift in a system that once rejected monarchy, and speculation that Mojtaba’s appointment could accelerate Iran’s nuclear ambitions by lifting his father’s longstanding fatwa against atomic weapons.
Interim governance falls to a council including President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, and cleric Ali Reza Arafi amid the transition. Casualty figures from the Qom strike remain unconfirmed and vary widely, with some social media claims of mass eliminations appearing overstated given the succession announcement.
The Mossad post remains online without retraction. Regional tensions persist, with continued missile exchanges involving Israel, Iran, and proxies such as Hezbollah, fuelling volatility in global energy markets and raising questions about compliance with international humanitarian law in targeting political-religious institutions.
The situation remains highly fluid, with intelligence sources indicating close monitoring of Iran’s leadership changes and no major new strikes reported as of early 4 March.
With information from TPS
