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President Donald Trump has warned that Iran’s next supreme leader will struggle to remain in power without his approval, as Tehran prepares to announce a successor to the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Nine days after US-Israeli strikes killed Khamenei and pushed the Middle East into a wider conflict, Iran’s Assembly of Experts met privately and selected a new leader, according to members of the body.
The clerics did not reveal the name of the chosen successor but said the announcement would be made soon. Some insiders have suggested that Khamenei’s 56-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, could take over from his father.
Trump had earlier rejected the possibility of Mojtaba becoming Iran’s next leader, describing him as an unacceptable “lightweight.”
“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump said during an interview with ABC News, referring to Iran’s next leader. “If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long.”
However, Iran’s top diplomat insisted the decision belongs solely to Tehran and warned against foreign interference.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the choice of a new supreme leader is an internal matter for Iran and stressed that the country would not allow any outside power to interfere in its domestic affairs. Speaking during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, he also called on Trump to apologise to the people of the region for the escalating conflict.
Mojtaba Khamenei is widely viewed as a conservative figure, partly because of his close ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the ideological branch of the country’s military.
Israel’s military has also warned that any successor to Khamenei could become a target if the conflict continues.
Overnight, Israel carried out new operations that underlined its expanding reach in the war. Air strikes targeted fuel storage facilities in and around Tehran, while another attack struck a hotel in central Beirut believed to be hosting suspected Iranian commanders.
Warplanes hit five oil facilities around the Iranian capital, killing at least four people and sending thick smoke across the city, according to a state oil executive.
Tehran’s governor said fuel distribution in the capital had been temporarily disrupted, while residents reported a dark haze covering the city of about 10 million people.
