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Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly drafted a short list of potential successors as a contingency in case Israel targets him next.
The Iranian supreme leader has spent much of the last couple of weeks in hiding as Israeli forces systematically targeted nuclear research facilities, nuclear scientists, and military leaders — and as The New York Times reported on Saturday, those targeted strikes have Khamenei worried that he could be next on the list.
According to the report, Khamenei has resorted to speaking through a “trusted aid” and refuses to use electronic communications in order to better obscure his location. The NYTimes quoted several anonymous officials as confirming that the ayatollah had also chosen replacements for a number of his military leaders.
Khamenei, the officials said, is taking steps to avoid being assassinated — but they also said that if an attempt were to succeed, he would view himself as a martyr. “Given the possibility, the ayatollah has made the unusual decision to instruct his nation’s Assembly of Experts, the clerical body responsible for appointing the supreme leader, to choose his successor swiftly from the three names he has provided,” the report stated.
Khamenei’s short list circumvents the typical process for selecting a successor — during which clerics also submit names for consideration — but as Johns Hopkins University professor and Iran expert Vali Nasr explained, “The top priority is the preservation of the state. It is all calculative and pragmatic.”
The surprising move, according to the quoted officials, is that Khamenei did not put his son Mojtaba on the list despite most believing that he was a frontrunner for the position. Instead, the list is reportedly comprised of the names of three senior clerics.
The news came just hours before President Donald Trump announced that the American military had successfully executed strikes on three major nuclear targets in Iran.
The President will make an Address to the Nation at 10:00PM ET. Tune in! pic.twitter.com/WT0AeS3ghA
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) June 22, 2025
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