With Israel having said that he 'should not continue to exist', Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has named three senior clerics as potential successors should he be slain, reports The New York Times.
Khamenei would view his assassination as martyrdom, the report, quoting officials, said. The 86-year-old has left his residence and is now sheltering in a bunker but that may not be enough to foil an Israeli bid to take him out.
It may be recalled that on the first day of the ongoing war, an Israeli strike killed Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC's Air Force, along with other senior air force leaders as they held a meeting at an underground command centre.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz had issued the statement threatening Khamenei's existence after Iranian strikes on a hospital and residential buildings in Israel earlier this week. Katz claimed the strikes could not have happened without a personal order from Khamenei.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a bit more circumspect, only stating that all options are on the table. In a remark apparently directed at Katz, he said "it’s best not to speak about this in the press" and that he expects this "from my ministers as well."
Although the candidates to be Khamenei's successor have not been named, officials clarified that his son Mujtaba is not among them. Mujtaba had been considered a likely option to follow in his father's footsteps.
In usual circumstances, choosing the next supreme leader would have taken months but Khamenei is keen to ensure that it happens quickly to avoid chaos in the event he is targeted.
