Iran Announces Death Of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei In Israeli-American Airstrikes

Iran entered a new political phase after officially announcing the death of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Israeli-American airstrikes that targeted it on Saturday, and the country will be led temporarily by President Masoud Beshkian, the head of the judiciary, and one of the Guardian Council experts, according to what was officially announced early this Sunday.

State television confirmed the death of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the Israeli strikes that targeted Iran on Saturday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his death.

ABC News

The Iranian government declared a 40-day national mourning and closed government offices for seven days, while the Supreme National Security Council said that the martyrdom of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would be the starting point for a great uprising against the tyrants of the world.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, political analyst Hossein Rivaran predicted that the new Supreme Leader would be chosen smoothly, as was the case when former President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash last year.

Rivaran added that Iran is a state of institutions and the selection of the new Supreme Leader will not be affected even by the current war, saying Tehran's readiness has not been affected by the killing of its senior leaders.

Donald Trump told NBC News in an interview that he desires the complete dismantling of Iran's leadership structure and said he has several names in mind for a 'good leader,' while also taking steps to ensure that the people on his list survive during the war.

In the same interview, Trump declined to name the individuals but confirmed that the United States is watching them, saying: "We’re watching them, yes."

Al Jazeera

The remarks came as the Iranian leadership structure moved toward a successor, with the DW report stating that the 88-member Assembly of Experts chose Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, replacing his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was assassinated at the start of the US-Israeli attack on Tehran on February 28.

DW also reported that President Donald Trump had signaled before the announcement by warning Iran that any new Supreme Leader would not stay long without his approval, and that Israel said any successor to Khamenei would be an obvious target for assassination.

In parallel, VOA Farsi reported Trump saying he believes Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since the start of the war, but is "somehow still alive."

After the election of Mojtaba Khamenei, Ali Larijani, the Leader’s representative and secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, sent a condolence message and described the election of Ayatollah Khamenei as the Leader of the Islamic Republic by the Assembly of Experts as a source of hope for the Iranian nation.

“Toggle Play US says Iran’s new supreme leader alive and 'increasingly engaging' During his testimony before Congress, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive and ‘increasingly engaging’ in negotiations”

Al Jazeera

In Larijani’s message, he said: "The martyrdom of the holy personality Imam Khamenei, may God sanctify his soul, and of his relatives in the crime of global arrogance and Zionism, is a great sorrow in our hearts."

The DW report said Mojtaba Khamenei is regarded as among the hardliners and that the post would give him the final say in all state affairs in the Islamic Republic.

At the same time, The الحرة described a new Supreme Leader whose public presence remains unclear, saying there is "no visual evidence that he is actually at the helm of leadership."

The الحرة also quoted a political analyst’s framing of the situation, writing: "Majtaba Khamenei the Younger exists in two simultaneous states: he is at once alive and dead, and at the same time the Supreme Leader… and not."