Media: Ayatollah Khamenei Has Chosen Successors In Case Of Liquidation

• 22.06.2025, 9:55

Iran's supreme leader has stopped using electronic communication.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is hiding from Israeli strikes in a bunker, has picked three high-ranking clerics as candidates to replace him in the event of his death, The New York Times.

The 86-year-old Khamenei has instructed Iran's Assembly of Experts, which elects the country's supreme leader, to promptly select his successor from three nominees submitted by him in the event of his death. In theory, the process of appointing a new supreme leader could take months, but according to the NYT's Iranian sources, since the country is now at war, the ayatollah wants to ensure "a quick, orderly transition and preserve his legacy."

Besides possible successors for himself, Khamenei has chosen several candidates to replace him in the event of the deaths of his aides in order to preserve the chain of military command. In the hands of the ayatollah is concentrated all power in the country: the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government, as well as the leadership of Iran's armed forces.

Khamenei has stopped using electronic devices

The NYT's sources said that fearing an assassination attempt, Iran's supreme leader now mostly communicates with his commanders through a trusted aide, having stopped using electronic communication to do so to make him harder to find.

"Obviously we had a massive leak of information and intelligence, there is no denying that. All our senior commanders were killed within one hour," the publication quoted Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser to Iran's parliament speaker Gen. Mohammad Ghalibaf, as saying.

According to the newspaper's interlocutors, Iran's leadership is most concerned about three major issues: the assassination attempt on Ayatollah Khamenei, U.S. entry into the war, and more devastating attacks on Iran's critical infrastructure such as power plants, oil and gas refineries and dams.