As Khamenei death rumours swirl, Iran speeds up succession plans: Reuters

New Delhi: The race to determine a successor for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has intensified, with a special committee expediting its search following recent Israeli strikes and renewed threats to Khamenei’s life, according to a Reuters report citing multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Khamenei, 86, who has led Iran since 1989, is said to be under heightened security and has reportedly gone into hiding with his family, guarded by the elite Vali-ye Amr unit of the Revolutionary Guards. A three-member panel from Iran’s top clerical body, tasked with succession planning, has ramped up discussions amid fears for the leader’s safety and the need to project stability.

Reuters quotes insiders as saying that while the process to find Khamenei’s replacement was already underway due to his age and health concerns, the urgency has grown following the Israeli assault on Iranian territory and explicit threats from Israeli and American leaders. “The clock’s ticking for senior clerics seeking a successor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,” the report notes.

Two prominent names have surfaced in the succession race. The first is Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader’s 56-year-old son, widely viewed as a candidate for continuity. The second is Hassan Khomeini, the reform-minded grandson of Iran’s revolutionary founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. While Mojtaba is seen as carrying forward his father’s hardline legacy, Hassan Khomeini, who is allied with the reformist camp, could present a more moderate image both at home and abroad, Reuters reports.

Analysts say that Khomeini’s selection could help the regime manage rising domestic dissatisfaction, though hardline officials previously barred him from running for Iran’s powerful Assembly of Experts in 2016.

According to Reuters, Ayatollah Khamenei himself has not expressed a clear preference for his successor. He is said to have opposed his son’s succession in the past, wary of any perception of returning to hereditary rule, which Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution sought to abolish. Officially, the Assembly of Experts—an 88-member clerical council—will choose the new Supreme Leader.

The situation is further complicated by the loss of several senior Iranian officials in recent years, including former judiciary chief Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and former president Ebrahim Raisi, as well as the deaths of top Revolutionary Guards commanders in recent Israeli attacks.

With external threats rising and internal unrest simmering, observers quoted by Reuters caution that any transition could prove fraught, with uncertainty over whether a new leader could consolidate the same level of authority as Khamenei.

US President Trump recently claimed to know Khamenei’s whereabouts, calling the Supreme Leader “an easy target,” Reuters noted. In the event of Khamenei’s death, Iran’s leadership aims to move quickly to name a successor and demonstrate stability.

The final outcome, however, is far from clear, with the regime weighing whether to pursue continuity or to make a tactical shift towards moderation.