Israel’s defence minister says subsequent chief ‘goal for assassination’ as Iranians put together to mourn Khamenei in Tehran.
Grieving Iranians will bid farewell to late Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a ceremony in Tehran, a senior Iranian official instructed state media, days after he was assassinated together with relations in joint air strikes by Israel and the United States.
Hojjatoleslam Mahmoudi, head of Iran’s Islamic Propagation Council, mentioned the farewell ceremony would begin at 10pm (18:30 GMT) on Wednesday at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Prayer Corridor and proceed for 3 days.
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“The prayer corridor can be receiving guests and the pricey folks can attend and participate within the farewell ceremony and mark a robust presence as soon as once more,” Mahmoudi mentioned in feedback carried by Iranian media.
Funeral preparations are ongoing and are anticipated to attract large crowds, and, with them, the potential risk of US-Israeli assaults on a gathering of mass mourning. Some 10 million folks attended Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s funeral in 1989.
Khamenei was killed on Saturday, aged 86. He had been Iran’s supreme chief since 1989, succeeding Khomeini, the founding father of the post-shah Iran, who steered the nation’s 1979 revolution.
The supreme chief holds final authority over all branches of presidency, the navy and the judiciary, whereas additionally performing because the nation’s non secular chief.
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a senior Iranian cleric who’s a member of each the highly effective Guardian Council and Meeting of Specialists, mentioned the nation was shut to selecting the late Khamenei’s successor.
“The Supreme Chief can be recognized within the closest alternative, we’re shut to a conclusion, nevertheless the state of affairs within the nation is a battle state of affairs,” Khatami instructed state TV.
The 88-member Meeting of Specialists is elected by the general public each eight years. Candidates who run for the Meeting should first be vetted and authorised by the Guardian Council, a robust oversight physique whose members are partly appointed by the supreme chief himself.
A easy majority is adequate to nominate the brand new supreme chief. As per Iran’s structure, the candidate should be a senior jurist with deep information of jurisprudence in Shia Islam, in addition to qualities similar to political judgement, braveness, and administrative functionality.
Khamenei’s second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is among the many high contenders to succeed his father. Two Iranian sources cited by Reuters information company mentioned Mojtaba has survived US-Israeli assaults on the nation.
Israel’s Protection Minister Israel Katz threatened on Wednesday to assassinate any Iranian chief picked to succeed Khamenei.
“Any chief chosen by the Iranian terror regime to proceed main the plan for Israel’s destruction, threatening the US, the free world and international locations within the area, and suppressing the Iranian folks, can be a sure goal for assassination, irrespective of his title or the place he hides,” Katz mentioned in a submit on X.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday publicly mused concerning the management he want to see in Iran following Khamenei’s assassination. Throughout an Oval Workplace look, he mentioned the “worst-case state of affairs” in Iran can be one other chief unfriendly to US priorities.
Luciano Zaccara, a analysis affiliate professor in Gulf politics at Qatar College, instructed Al Jazeera that Iran’s political system has been ready for the present state of affairs, realizing that Khamenei’s killing was an actual chance.
“The buildings stay, the road of energy [and] the road of command stay in place,” he mentioned.
