Mojtaba likely to succeed his father Khamenei as Iran's Supreme Leader
- Last updated: March 4, 2026 | 22:23 ..
Mojtaba Khamenei, the powerful son of Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is alive and favoured to emerge as his father's successor, two Iranian sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
As new explosions rang out in Tehran, plans were in doubt for a funeral for the elder Khamenei, 86, killed by Israeli forces on Saturday in the first assassination of a nation's top ruler by airstrike. His body had been scheduled to lie in state in a vast Tehran mosque from Wednesday evening but state media reported the farewell ceremony was postponed.
The United States and Israel pressed on with their round-the-clock assaults on Iran on Wednesday in a campaign that the top US commander said was "ahead of the game plan."
The two Iranian sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was not in Tehran during the strike that destroyed the leader's compound and also killed the elder Khamenei's wife, another son and a number of senior military and leadership figures.
Iran said the Assembly of Experts that will select the new leader will announce its decision soon, only the second time it has done so since the Islamic Republic's founding in 1979.
Assembly member Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami told state TV the candidates had already been identified but did not name them.
Israel said it would hunt down whoever was chosen.
DEATH TOLL
The death toll in Iran from the ongoing war with the United States and Israel has reached at least 1,045 people, an Iranian government agency said on Wednesday.
Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs offered the toll, saying it represented the number of bodies so far identified and prepared for burial.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Defence Ministry said Nato defences intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkey’s airspace. Iran has also attacked regional infrastructure. Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday its Ras Tanura oil refinery, one of the world's largest, was again targeted after an unsuccessful drone attack on it earlier in the week. The kingdom's oil ministry said the latest attack did not cause any damage and supplies were not affected.
Five days into a war that US President Donald Trump suggested could last a month or longer, over 1,000 people have been killed in Iran, including some Trump said he had considered as possible future leaders of the country.
Kuwait, which had previously reported a single death, said Wednesday that an 11-year-old girl was killed by falling shrapnel as Kuwaiti forces were intercepting "hostile aerial targets.”
Agencies