As the Middle East tensions rise, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has allegedly taken refuge in an underground safe bunker and identified three top clerics as possible successors, according to The New York Times. The extreme action comes in light of rising fears of being assassinated and increasing military action against Israel and America.
This emergence marks a significant change in the leadership equation in Iran as the country deals with one of its most precarious wartime challenges in decades, a two-front war with Israel and now, US air raids.
As per the report, Ayatollah Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, has also been ruled out as a probable successor despite being long regarded as a strong contender because of his clerical lineage and close association with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Another former president, Ebrahim Raisi, perished in a helicopter accident in 2024.
Leadership Under Lockdown
As questions arose about where Khamenei was after the recent US missile strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, President Donald Trump has called on Iran to ‘end the war’ at once. According to reports, the White-haired 86-year-old supreme leader, who is used to living in isolation, has severed all electronic communications and is issuing orders only through a loyal aide.
Three Iranian officials told The New York Times that this was part of an emergency wartime procedure meant to evade Israeli and United States detection, both of which have been accused of plotting an assassination attempt.
In an audio recording the publication received, Mahdi Mohammadi, adviser to parliament speaker Gen. Mohammad Ghalibaf, confessed to a grave intelligence failure:
“We obviously had a tremendous intelligence and security breach; there is no doubt about this. Our top commanders were all killed within an hour’s time.”
Heavy Casualties in Iran
Ten days into the Iran-Israel conflict, more than 865 Iranians have been killed and 3,396 wounded, a human rights group quoted by the Associated Press said. Israeli and US attacks have reached deep into the heart of Tehran, targeting vital infrastructure such as nuclear experts, military installations, and energy installations.
The crisis escalated when the US became involved in the war, conducting airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities; Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan by employing B-2 bombers, Bunker Busters, and Tomahawk missiles.
In a televised message, President Trump justified, “Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror.”
Preparing for Succession
Given the heightened threat to his life, Ayatollah Khamenei has reportedly directed the Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for choosing the next Supreme Leader-to-be ready to appoint a successor swiftly from the three individuals he has selected. Normally, this process would take months, but Khamenei’s directive aims to ensure a ‘quick, orderly transition’ in case of his death, the NYT report added.
