Iranian state television reported that the country’s senior clerical leadership was close to selecting a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the initial strikes that marked the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran last weekend. The report did not name a potential replacement, though officials previously said that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was considered the leading candidate, the NYT reported.
US and Israeli forces launched new strikes Sunday on Iranian military sites and key energy infrastructure, while Iranian authorities sought to project a sense of control by announcing that senior clerics were nearing a decision on the country’s next supreme leader.
There were no indications that the conflict was easing. Over the weekend, desalination plants in Iran and on Bahrain, an island in the Persian Gulf, were hit, raising concerns about disruptions to drinking water supplies for millions of people across the region.
US Central Command warned Iranian civilians to remain indoors, signaling that American forces could target heavily populated areas where it says Iranian forces frequently launch drones and ballistic missiles. In an interview with ABC News, President Donald Trump also said that any new Iranian supreme leader would struggle to remain in power without US approval.
