Report: Iranian officials consider removing Ayatollah as supreme leader

Iranian officials are said to be considering removing their supreme leader from power after the United States waded into Israel 's growing conflict with Iran on Sunday. Two sources involved in talks told The Atlantic that officials are now contemplating deposing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but said it's just 'one idea' among many 'plots'. 'Everybody knows Khamenei's days are numbered,' one official told the American outlet. 'Even if he stays in office, he won't have actual power.' Iranian officials had sought to displace the 86-year-old supreme leader even before the U.S. intervention due to his age and longstanding health concerns, the sources said.
Iran has vowed to inflict 'serious' damage in retaliation to the American strikes on nuclear facilities across the territory. But analysts remain unconvinced that the country has the military might to keep up kinetic action against both Israel and the U.S., with the conflict now in its 11th day. However, Vladimir Putin today vowed to back Iran and condemned 'groundless' aggression against its ally. The Kremlin last night accused the United States of opening a Pandora's box with its strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, warning it was gambling with the 'safety and well-being of humanity as a whole'. Russia had already condemned Israel's strikes against Iran, and has said that targeting nuclear facilities risks throwing the region into greater chaos.
Prior to the attacks, the Kremlin had been eyeing a role in mediating between Iran and Israel. 'This is an absolutely unprovoked aggression against Iran,' Putin told Abbas Araghchi, who travelled to Moscow on Monday seeking support in mediation over Iran's nuclear program. Putin called recent strikes 'unjustified' and added that Russia was 'making efforts to provide assistance to the Iranian people.' The comments came as Israel again struck the Fordow nuclear facility and 'government targets' in Tehran, with no sign of the conflict abating.
Khamenei, who last spoke to his nation in a televised address on Wednesday, has hidden away in a bunker, suspending electronic communications in a bid to toughen up security amid swirling assassination threats, three Iranian officials told the New York Times . But, despite the ramped up protection effort Iran's Ayatollah has named three potential successors to take over his role in case he is killed, according to reports. A three-man committee from a top clerical body, appointed by Khamenei himself two years ago to identify his replacement, has accelerated its planning in recent days since Israel attacked Iran and threatened to assassinate the veteran leader, five insiders with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. Khamenei is being regularly briefed on the talks, according to the Iranian sources who requested anonymity to discuss highly sensitive matters.
He has gone into hiding with his family and is being guarded by the Vali-ye Amr special forces unit of the Revolutionary Guards, a top security official said. The ruling establishment will immediately seek to name a successor to Khamenei if he is killed, to signal stability and continuity, according to the sources who acknowledged that predicting Iran's subsequent political trajectory was difficult. A new leader will still be chosen for his devotion to the revolutionary precepts of the Islamic Republic's late founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, according to one insider, who is close to Khamenei's office and privy to succession discussions. At the same time, the top echelon of power is also considering which candidate might present a more moderate face to ward off foreign attacks and internal revolts, the person said.
Two frontrunners have emerged in the succession discussions, the five insiders said: Khamenei's 56-year-old son Mojtaba, long seen as a continuity choice, and a new contender, Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the father of the Islamic revolution. Khomeini, a close ally of the reformist faction that favors the easing of social and political restrictions, nonetheless commands respect among senior clerics and the Revolutionary Guards because of his lineage, the sources added. 'I once again humbly express that this small and insignificant servant of the Iranian people stands ready to proudly be present on any front or scene you deem necessary,' the 53-year-old said in a public message of support to the supreme leader on Saturday, hours before the U.S. bombed Iran's nuclear facilities. Khomeini has come into the frame as a serious candidate this month amid the conflict with Israel and America because he could represent a more conciliatory choice internationally and domestically than Mojtaba Khamenei, the five people said.
By contrast, Khamenei hews closely to his father's hardline policies, according to the insiders who cautioned that nothing had been determined, candidates could change and the supreme leader would have the final say. However, with the military conflict continuing, it remains unclear whether any new leader could be chosen easily or installed securely or if he could assume the level of authority enjoyed by Khamenei, they added. Israeli strikes have also killed several of Iran's top Revolutionary Guards commanders, potentially complicating a handover of power as the elite military force has long played a central role in enforcing the supreme leader's rule. Khamenei's office and the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body from which the succession committee was drawn, were not available to comment. His son Mojtaba, also a cleric who has close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, was rumored to be a front-runner.
But he is not among the selected candidates, officials reportedly told the newspaper. It comes after Donald Trump raised the prospect of regime change in the country, despite several of his administration officials earlier stressing that US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites did not have that goal. 'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday. Since Trump joined Israel's campaign by dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday morning, Iran has repeatedly threatened to retaliate.
The country said the US should expect 'heavy consequences' for its attacks, issuing a threat that its entry into the conflict with Israel will 'expand the scope of legitimate targets'. Earlier, a Iranian television mouthpiece warned that up to 50,000 American soldiers will be returned to Washington in 'coffins'. State TV anchor Mehdi Khanalizadeh accused Trump of choosing to 'spill the blood of your soldiers', before adding: 'The US president in the Oval Office chose to take delivery of the coffins of up to 50,000 US soldiers in Washington.' Trump declared last night that 'monumental damage' has been done 'to all nuclear sites in Iran'.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

BBC News

13 minutes ago

• BBC News

RAF flight evacuates British nationals from Israel

The RAF has evacuated 63 British nationals from Israel as Tel Aviv and Tehran continue to exchange fire, the foreign secretary has flight left Tel Aviv on Monday afternoon, taking vulnerable Britons and their immediate family to Cyprus. A British national was also injured in Israel during an Iranian missile attack, David Lammy said. In a statement to MPs, Lammy repeated his plea to Iran to return to the negotiating table following the US's strike on its nuclear programme. He said: "My message for Tehran was clear, take the off ramp, dial this thing down, and negotiate with the United States seriously and immediately."Be in no doubt, we are prepared to defend our personnel, our assets and those of our allies and partners." Follow live coverage of the Israel-Iran conflict The RAF A400 aircraft departed Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport with 63 British nationals plus their immediate family who are eligible to travel. The Foreign Office said further flights would be based on demand and the security situation. British nationals still in Israel have been urged to register their presence with the UK government. Israeli airspace has been closed - leaving thousands of British nationals stranded - since the conflict started earlier this month when Israel attacked nuclear sites in Iran, prompting Tehran to respond with missile strikes. Lammy said the British national injured in a strike in Israel was being offered consular support. BBC News has approached the Foreign Office for more details. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump have claimed that Iran has been preparing to build a nuclear weapon. Iran has repeatedly denied planning to do Iran to return to the negotiating table, Lammy told the Commons: "The alternative is an even more destructive and far-reaching conflict, which could have unpredictable consequences."He added the situation "presents serious risk to British interests" in the Middle East. British nationals in Qatar have also been advised to shelter in place until further notice.

Reuters

13 minutes ago

• Reuters

Russia and Mali sign trade deals, eye nuclear energy cooperation

MOSCOW, June 23 (Reuters) - Russia signed agreements to bolster trade and economic ties with Mali on Monday and President Vladimir Putin told the visiting leader of the West African country's military junta that there were specific areas where cooperation could be ramped up. Putin received Colonel Assimi Goita in the Kremlin, where the two spoke for two hours, Russian state media said. Putin said relations with Mali had a "good upward trend" even if bilateral trade was currently "modest", according to a Kremlin readout. "There are good areas for future cooperation: these are geological exploration, natural resource development, energy, logistics and the humanitarian fields," Putin said. One of the deals Putin and Goita signed concerned cooperation in nuclear energy, the Kremlin said. Mali and Russia have in the past discussed what they have called a strategic project to build a Russian-designed low-power nuclear power plant. Construction began earlier this month in Mali on a new Russian-backed gold refinery, which Goita, who seized power following coups in 2020 and 2021, has said would give the Western African country greater control over its natural resources. Mali is one of Africa's top gold producers, but currently lacks a functional and globally certified refinery. Russian mercenary groups have also supported Goita's government with deployments of fighters after the Malian army kicked out French and U.N. troops that had been involved in fighting the Islamist insurgents for a decade. Russia's Wagner mercenary group announced earlier this month it was withdrawing from Mali, but the African Corps still operates there.

The Independent

28 minutes ago

• The Independent

How will Iran's embattled Supreme leader respond to US strikes?

Hiding in a secret bunker, speaking indirectly to commanders through a handful of trusted aides, naming a string of successors to his increasingly battered military command — and significantly, to his own position— and avoiding anything trackable or electronic. This is said to be the shrinking world of Iran's supreme leader, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for nearly four decades, as the nation buckles under the largest attacks on its soil since the war with Iraq in the 1980s. According to US officials, Donald Trump has vetoed Israeli plans to take out Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But the danger of death significantly spiked when the US entered the fray yesterday, unleashing the biggest conventional bombs in its arsenal on Iranian nuclear facilities — including, according to UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi, causing 'very significant' damage to the Fordow uranium enrichment plant, dug into the side of a mountain. There have been unconfirmed rumours swirling inside Iran that its Assembly of Experts — the body empowered to appoint a supreme leader — held an emergency session. The New York Times, citing Iranian officials, reported that Khamenei has even named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him, in a telling indication of just how much his rule — and even his life — is under threat. You could also read into the fact that Ayatollah Khamenei has not spoken publicly since the US attacked Iran directly. He last addressed the world five days ago, telling the US president: 'It isn't wise to tell the Iranian nation to surrender.' 'The harm the US will suffer will definitely be irreparable if they enter this conflict militarily,' he warned. But the question remains: what options do the Iranian regime — or more specifically, the supreme leader - actually have? Particularly given the external threat from Iran's skies (which Israel now claims it controls) and the internal threat from powerful factions within the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps? American outlets have reported that Iran threatened to activate sleeper cells in the US in messages to Trump if Washington entered the melee. In the past, there have been numerous attacks by Iran-backed groups on US bases and positions in countries like Iraq and Syria — while the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have also fired missiles at Israel. But surely the loudest noise across the Middle East — rocked by daily explosions — is the deafening silence in recent days these proxies and allies, including the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen. Once thought to be the powerful, long-fingered, and unshakeably loyal defenders of Iran against its Western foes, these groups have been so quiet they have inspired a slew of memes comparing them to puppies, boyfriends that ghost, and Homer Simpson disappearing into a hedge. Reports from within Iran, shared with The Independent, indicate Tehran has been penning directives to these allies to activate against the US. Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kateab Hezbollah had warned it would resume attacks on American troops in the region if the United States intervened. On Monday Reuters reported that oil majors including Eni, BP, and Total Energies operating in Iraqi oilfields have evacuated a number of their foreign personnel possibly preempting an attack. But experts question whether groups like Kateab Hezbollah or the PMF would be willing to really go all out and attack US or western assets in this environment. Last year, Israel's unprecedented assault on Lebanon took out the most senior leadership of Hezbollah, including its previously untouchable leader Hassan Nasrallah, gutting the group's capabilities. The various Iran-backed armed factions in Syria, reeling from Hezbollah's defanging, were later sent packing — or into the shadows — when their ally, former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, was ousted by Islamist-led Sunni opposition groups that now rule most of the country. In Iraq, despite US intelligence reports suggesting Iran-backed militias are preparing attacks on US bases, nothing concrete has so far materialised. These forces will no doubt have watched with horror as Iran's most senior military commanders have been eliminated — including newly appointed successors, one just four days into his new job as chief of staff. '[Iran's allied militias] want to stay out,' says Bronwen Maddox, CEO of the think tank Chatham House, speaking from Jordan — where missile fire between Iran and Israel crosses overhead. 'I think the US has a separate deal with the Houthis, and the others are not very effective anymore,' she added. Maddox believes that Ayatollah Khamenei might want to wait and see if Israel de-escalates - and may even try to renegotiate with the US. In a worst case scenario he has some very alarming alternatives, including the quite literal nuclear option. The biggest fear, she adds, is the deployment of a dirty bomb, given Iran reportedly has enough enriched uranium to build around nine weapons. There is also the possibility that Iran strangles the strategic Strait of Hormuz, that is the world's busiest oil shipping channel. At its narrowest point, the strait's shipping lanes lie entirely within Iran and Oman's territorial waters, giving Tehran a considerable hold. Blocking it would have profound consequences for the global economy. Whatever happens, Israel - and possibly Donald Trump - appears to be pushing for regime toppling, even if it's unclear how that could be achieved through airstrikes alone. Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly called on Iranian civilians to rise up against their leaders — most recently last week, telling Iranians in English that Israeli airstrikes were 'clearing the path to achieve your objectives, which is freedom.' That said even if all of Iran's military leaders were wiped out, there is no effective opposition poised and prepared to take over all arms of the state. But for Israel, full regime change, in the traditional sense, may not be entirely necessary. For Israel, ousting, destroying, or defanging the current leadership—and allowing a messy vacuum to follow—may be just as effective if the only goal is to prevent Iran's nuclear programme from continuing. Chaos is a win.