Israeli security officials believe that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei and a leading contender to succeed him, survived an airstrike this week that targeted senior Iranian leadership figures.

According to the Israeli assessment, Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in the strike but remains alive.

The development comes as Iran’s clerical establishment scrambles to determine who will lead the country following the death of the longtime supreme leader amid the escalating war between Iran, Israel and the United States.

Mojtaba Khamenei has emerged as the frontrunner to assume the position of supreme leader, according to a report by The New York Times earlier this week.

The report followed claims by the opposition-linked outlet Iran International that Mojtaba had already been selected by Iran’s powerful Assembly of Experts, the clerical body responsible for choosing the country’s next supreme leader. The outlet cited unnamed sources familiar with the deliberations.

The New York Times reported that senior clerics involved in the selection process could announce their decision soon, though some remain wary of formally naming Mojtaba Khamenei.

According to Iranian officials cited in the report, some clerics fear that publicly declaring him the next supreme leader could make him an immediate target for the United States or Israel.

The leadership struggle intensified after Israeli forces targeted the building in the Iranian city of Qom housing members of the Assembly of Experts.

Effie Defrin, a spokesman for the IDF, confirmed that the military carried out a strike Tuesday against the site associated with the 88-member body responsible for selecting Iran’s next supreme leader.

Asked about the succession process, Defrin said Israel would continue targeting efforts to install a new “terror chief” in Tehran.

Israeli officials are still awaiting further intelligence on the results of the strike.

An opposition report suggested that the building in Qom was largely empty at the time Israeli forces said it was hit, raising questions about the strike’s impact on the leadership selection process.

The struggle over Iran’s next leader is unfolding while the country’s political and military institutions remain under heavy pressure from the expanding U.S.–Israeli bombing campaign.

The Assembly of Experts, composed of 88 clerics, is tasked under Iran’s constitution with selecting the supreme leader.

But analysts say the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other security institutions are also likely to exert significant influence over the final decision.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)