Iran’s Leadership Selection Process Continues After Building Strike

Fighter jets struck Iran's Assembly of Experts building in Qom on Tuesday during a reported session to select the country's new leader following Ali Khamenei's death. Iranian news agencies claim the leadership selection process has moved online and a new leader will be named soon.

Fighter jets targeted the Assembly of Experts facility in Qom, Iran on Tuesday afternoon, just as the religious council was reportedly meeting to select a replacement for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei following his recent death. Social media posts showed the building suffered extensive damage, with reports of casualties among those present.

Despite the attack, Iranian officials announced later that evening that the selection process for new leadership had been finalized. Fars News Agency, which maintains ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated that officials had evacuated the building beforehand due to security concerns and moved the selection process to virtual meetings.

According to Fars, the results of the leadership vote would be revealed “soon.” The IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency confirmed that missiles hit the Qom facility. Israeli aircraft also targeted the Assembly’s regular meeting location the same night, suggesting the gathering may have been relocated to Qom as a precaution.

An Iranian journalist speaking to The Media Line explained that if Assembly members were indeed killed or injured in the strike, selecting new leadership would become nearly impossible. The source noted that organizing another meeting would prove extremely challenging given Israel’s intelligence capabilities, and the Assembly might lack the required number of members to make decisions and conduct votes.

The journalist further suggested that Israel’s intelligence penetration might be so comprehensive that the initial strike on the Assembly’s usual building was designed to force members to relocate, allowing for a precisely timed follow-up attack.

Telegram channels connected to Iran’s government indicated that the Assembly was reviewing a pre-compiled candidate list and moving toward a voting decision, though Fars firmly denied any in-person meetings took place.

Sources close to the regime have mentioned several potential candidates, including Mojtaba Khamenei (son of the former leader), Hassan Khomeini (grandson of Ruhollah Khomeini), and Alireza Arafi. None of these individuals possess extensive high-level executive experience, and their influence within the IRGC remains limited, with the exception of Khamenei’s son.

Mojtaba Khamenei, previously considered highly influential in Iran’s financial networks and security apparatus, has reportedly reduced his direct involvement in executive matters over the past year after suspending his religious instruction. His current status remains unclear following the strike on the Khamenei family compound during the joint Israeli-US operation, though reports confirm his wife, Zahra Haddad Adel, was killed in that attack.

The Assembly’s governing rules require at least 59 members present for leadership selection sessions. The new leader must secure two-thirds of votes cast by secret ballot. If conducted remotely, this would mark the first time in the Islamic Republic’s history that a supreme leader was chosen through virtual voting.

Additional candidates mentioned in recent years include Sadeq Larijani and Mohammad Mahdi-Mirbagheri, though both face significant opposition. Ali Larijani’s position has reportedly improved since Khamenei’s death.

Sadeq Larijani, who serves as Supreme National Security Council secretary and brother to Expediency Discernment Council head Sadeq Larijani, could emerge as a pragmatic choice if he can build better relationships with the IRGC and address critics who accuse the Larijani family of seeking power and financial impropriety. During wartime, he might be presented as a candidate focused on the Islamic Republic’s survival.

Fars also reported that Khamenei had not designated a preferred successor before his death. The agency indicated an official announcement could come “in the coming hours, or perhaps in the coming days.”