Iran is working to quickly appoint a new supreme leader after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death, with the selection body citing security threats amid ongoing conflict.

TEHRAN: Iran is attempting to swiftly appoint a new supreme leader following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes over the weekend.

Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts for Leadership responsible for selecting the new leader, said “we are all trying” to complete the process quickly.

He told state TV that “God willing, the leader will be appointed at the earliest opportunity,” while noting that “we are close, but the situation is a war situation.”

The urgency comes amid direct threats from Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, who stated on Wednesday that any Iranian leader picked to succeed Khamenei “will be a certain target for assassination.”

Khatami acknowledged that “discretion is necessary” given this threat, adding that the election of a new supreme leader was “imminent.”

The 88-member Assembly of Experts, elected every eight years, has itself been targeted, with Iranian media reporting strikes on a building belonging to it in the holy city of Qom on Tuesday.

The previous day, the body’s main headquarters in Tehran was also targeted by strikes, according to the Tasnim news agency.

Iran officially began its leadership transition on Sunday, a day after the death of Khamenei, who had led the country since 1989.

An interim leadership council is currently in place, consisting of President Masoud Pezeshkian, hardline judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, and cleric Alireza Arafi, who is also a member of the Assembly of Experts.

 The Sun Malaysia