Khamenei names successors, goes into bunker as Iran reels under Israeli strikes: Report

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Courtesy: AP photo)

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has taken unprecedented security and political steps to preserve the Islamic Republic as Israeli attacks intensify and the threat of US intervention looms. In what officials describe as the biggest assault on Iran since the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, Khamenei, now 86, has suspended electronic communications, relocated to a bunker, and designated successors for both his military command and his own leadership role, the New York Times reported.

Facing the possibility of assassination, Ayatollah Khamenei is now communicating with commanders only through a trusted aide and avoiding all electronic devices to prevent detection. Iranian officials told The New York Times that the supreme leader has pre-emptively named three senior clerics as potential successors. He has also instructed Iran’s Assembly of Experts to expedite the selection process should he be killed.

The level of preparation underscores the precarious state of Iran’s leadership following a week of devastating Israeli airstrikes that have targeted military, nuclear, and civilian infrastructure across Tehran. The strikes have inflicted more damage on the capital in a few days than the eight-year war with Iraq, according to Iranian officials.

While Tehran has responded with its own barrage of counterstrikes, including hits on Israeli hospitals, refineries, and homes, its leadership is fighting what it describes as a dual war — both in the air and on the ground. Iranian authorities claim that covert Israeli operatives are launching drones within Iran, exploiting a “massive security and intelligence breach” that has rattled the country’s leadership.

Senior commanders have been assassinated in swift strikes, prompting Ayatollah Khamenei to install contingency replacements for key military positions. The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has also implemented strict communication blackouts, grounded top officials, and ordered citizens to report suspicious behaviour or face execution.

Iranian officials remain deeply concerned about possible US involvement. Only America, they acknowledge, possesses the firepower — including the 30,000-pound bomb — necessary to target Iran’s most fortified nuclear facility at Fordo. If the US joins Israel in military action, it would escalate the conflict dramatically. While Iran has threatened retaliation, officials admit that such a move could trigger a far more devastating response.

Succession has long been a taboo topic in Iranian politics. But with the nation in crisis, Khamenei has broken with tradition. He reportedly excluded his son Mojtaba Khamenei, once rumoured as a frontrunner, from the shortlist. Ibrahim Raisi, another contender, died in a helicopter crash in 2024. Khamenei now wants the Assembly of Experts to act quickly to ensure a smooth transition and to avoid internal instability.

Daily life in Iran has been transformed. With communication lines disrupted, the internet nearly shut down, and foreign calls blocked, the Ministry of Telecommunications insists these are wartime security measures. Residents of Tehran describe an eerie calm, with checkpoints on major roads and deserted streets where traffic once choked the capital.

Videos show citizens queuing calmly at bakeries, rationing bread, and offering shelter to displaced families. Psychologists, shopkeepers, and athletes have taken to social media to express solidarity and patriotism. “This is an attack on our country, on Iran,” said one businessman who fled Tehran with his family.

The war has unexpectedly unified the country, bridging deep political divides. Reformists, critics, and even Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi have condemned the attacks. “Democracy cannot come through violence and war,” she told the BBC.

As Israeli airstrikes continue and President Trump weighs his next move, Iran’s leadership is preparing for all outcomes — even those that might reshape the future of the Islamic Republic.