Where Is Ayatollah Khamenei? Iran’s Supreme Leader Reportedly Names 3 Successors Amid Assassination Fears

Where Is Ayatollah Khamenei?: As tensions escalate in the Middle East, questions are rising about the whereabouts and safety of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, following reports that he has taken refuge in a secure underground bunker. Amid fears of an assassination attempt and intensifying military conflict, Khamenei has reportedly named three senior clerics as potential successors, according to The New York Times.

The move marks a dramatic shift in Iran’s power structure as the country faces one of its gravest wartime threats in decades — a two-front war with Israel and US military involvement.

According to the NYT report, Ayatollah Khamenei's son, Mojtaba — a cleric with strong ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and once widely speculated to be a leading contender — has not been included among the potential successors.

This marks a dramatic shift from years of speculation that a dynastic handover was being engineered behind the scenes, Jerusalem Post also reports on Saturday.

“Khamenei has nominated three clerics as potential successors while hiding in a bunker… Mojtaba is not among them,” reported The New York Times, citing confidential Iranian sources close to the leadership.

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Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post corroborated the report, noting that the Supreme Leader has also “selected replacements down his military chain of command” in anticipation of further Israeli strikes that could decimate his inner circle.

On Friday, Israel's Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said Iran's Supreme Leader "can no longer be allowed to exist". The comment came after an Iranian missile hit a hospital in a town near Tel Aviv.

Mr Khamenei will be held accountable over the hospital strike, the minister said.

"The cowardly Iranian dictator sits in the depths of a fortified bunker and fires missiles at hospitals and residential buildings in Israel. These are war crimes of the most serious kind - and Khamenei will be held accountable for his crimes," Mr Katz said in a post on X, indicating Israel Defence Forces (IDF) will do everything they can to eliminate the Iranian leader.

Though Iran’s leadership has suffered heavy losses in recent days, the country’s military chain of command remains intact, with no visible signs of dissent among political elites, according to diplomats and officials inside the country. Khamenei has appointed replacements down the military hierarchy to prevent a power vacuum if more IRGC leaders are killed.

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Security across Iran has been dramatically tightened. According to the report, the Ministry of Intelligence has directed senior officials to cease all mobile and electronic communications and remain underground.

Meanwhile, Iran has resumed daily counterattacks on Israeli infrastructure, including religious buildings, homes, a hospital and the Haifa oil refinery.

Iran-Israel war entered its tenth day on Sunday since Israel's surprise offensive. More than 865 Iranians have reportedly been killed, and 3,396 injured, according to a human rights group cited by the Associated Press.

The strikes have hit deep into Tehran and targeted Iran’s nuclear scientists, military bases, and energy infrastructure.

Now with President Donald Trump at the helm, the US inserted itself in the Middle East conflict with airstrikes on three nuclear sites in Iran.

Washington launched its powerful B-2 bombers, Bunker busters and Tomahawk missile strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear sites — the highly fortified Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan

Multiple B-2 bomber aircraft left a base in the central US overnight and were later tracked flying off the California coast along with aerial refuelling jets, The New York Times and specialist plane tracking sites reported.

The B-2 is capable of carrying America's heaviest payloads, including the bunker-busting GBU-57, a 30,000-pound (13,607 kg) warhead capable of penetrating 200 feet (61 metres) underground before exploding.

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