The building of the Council of Experts, the constitutional body that elects Iran’s Supreme Leader, collapsed on the 3rd (local time) after being bombed by the United States and Israel, CNN and local Iranian media reported. Speculation had been raised that the election of the next Supreme Leader would be postponed due to the safety of the Council members being threatened by continued US and Israeli bombing, but conflicting reports have also emerged that a final announcement is imminent.
The Council of Experts, a constitutional body comprised of 88 clerics with eight-year terms, is currently in the process of selecting a successor to Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US and Israeli airstrike on the 28th of last month. The headquarters of the Council of Experts, located in the central Iranian religious city of Qom, was bombed by the Israeli military on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump also told reporters that day, “There was another attack on the new leadership today.” However, local media reported that the meeting was not in session at the time of the bombing. Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported that the Council of Experts was discussing the Supreme Leader election via video conference and that it was in the “final stages,” but it was unclear when the final results would be announced.
AFP and Iranian dissident media outlet Iran International also reported that Fars News reported that the final in-person meeting of the Council of Experts could be postponed until after Khamenei’s funeral and burial, which is expected next week, due to heightened security measures. Khamenei’s body will be buried in his hometown and a Shiite holy city, Mashhad, Iranian media reported on Tuesday.
The funeral date has not yet been announced, but Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said via Telegram that a mass funeral would be held in the capital, Tehran, ahead of Khamenei’s burial. However, there are conflicting views that a final decision could be made soon, with the New York Times (NYT) reporting that the Council of Experts is considering officially announcing Khamenei’s second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as the next Supreme Leader on the morning of the 4th.
On the fourth day of armed conflict, the United States and Israel continued their large-scale offensive not only against the Council of Experts building but also against several locations in Iran, including Tehran. According to local media, including Mehr News Agency, Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport was attacked. Local media published photos showing smoke billowing from the airport after the bombing. Local media also reported that a parked aircraft at Bushehr Airport in the south was damaged by airstrikes.
Israel also carried out a large-scale strike on Iranian weapons production facilities and ballistic missile launch sites. The Israeli military explained that in the central city of Isfahan, dozens of ballistic missiles launch sites and storage warehouses were targeted.