Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly picked three candidates to replace him should he be assassinated or killed by an Israeli bomb in the near future, but his own son is not one of them.
Hiding out in a bunker, the despot has little contact with the outside world, very similar to how Osama Bin Laden’s final days played out.
Wary of assassination, Iran’s supreme leader mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications to make it harder to find him, three Iranian officials familiar with his emergency war plans say.
Ensconced in a bunker, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has picked an array of replacements down his chain of miliary command in case more of his valued lieutenants are killed.
And in a remarkable move, the officials add, Ayatollah Khamenei has even named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, as well — perhaps the most telling illustration of the precarious moment he and his three-decade rule are facing.
It’s not surprising that he’s a little nervous, considering Israel has wiped out a virtual planeload of top leaders and military commanders and the U.S. is considering getting involved in the conflict.
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🚨BREAKING: Khamenei appointed three successors in case he is eliminated.
He also understands that it is a matter of time.⏳ pic.twitter.com/Y5MLpgBRGi
— Eli Afriat 🇮🇱🎗 (@EliAfriatISR) June 21, 2025
The question of who would take over if Khamenei were to make the world a better place by leaving it remains unanswered, but it’s significance can be shown in the vast powers he currently has: He’s the commander in chief of the Iran Armed Forces, he’s the head of the judiciary, the legislature and the executive branch, and he is also a Vali Faqih, the most senior guardian of the Shiite faith.
And they say Donald Trump has too much power.
While we don’t know who Khameini’s three candidates are, we reportedly know who is not on the list:
Ayatollah Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, also a cleric and close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, who was rumored to be a front-runner, is not among the candidates, the officials said. Iran’s former conservative president, Ibrahim Raisi, was also considered a front-runner before he was killed in a helicopter crash in 2024.
It’s clear Israel’s surprise operations and dominance in the skies have rattled the 86-year-old religious extremist, who has been in power since 1989:
“If you need any more evidence that the ayatollah is shaking in his boots, look no further than him identifying his three stooges,” a source close to the White House told The New York Post.
Israel expert Gabriel Noronha thinks perhaps the Ayatollah is playing 3D chess:
There’s also a plain logic against nominating Mojtaba which: the desire for the Islamic Republic to not be seen as monarchic.
Khamenei should be wary of being seen as “picking” his son to succeed him. But the Assembly of Experts could ignore it and appoint him as Leader anyways.
— Gabriel Noronha (@GLNoronha) June 21, 2025
Impossible to know.
Like the Soviet Union before it, very few outsiders know what goes on in the inner circle of the secretive, repressive regime. And like the former USSR, we can all hope that the Islamic Republic dies an undignified death and is reviled for eternity in the history books.
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