NYT: Ali Khamenei may be succeeded by his son Mojtaba

Ali Khamenei's son, 56-year-old Mojtaba, became the main contender for the post of Supreme Leader of Iran following a meeting of the Council of Experts responsible for electing the country's religious head. The New York Times writes about this, citing sources.

Senior theologians were considering announcing the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei this morning, March 4, the publication's interlocutors said. They said the council abandoned the idea because of concerns that Iran's new religious leader would immediately become a target for the United States and Israel.

The opposition Iranian TV channel Iran International, based in Britain, said that the Council chose Mojtaba as Supreme Leader under pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Sources of Deutsche Welle reported the same. Iranian authorities have not yet confirmed this information.

The fact that the IRGC insisted on the appointment of Mojtaba is also stated in the NYT material. According to journalists, other candidates include Ayatollah Alireza Arafi and the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, Hassan Khomeini.

Any new Iranian supreme leader would be an "unconditional target for elimination" by Israel, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said .

On the night of March 1, Iranian authorities confirmed the death of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Earlier, Israel and the United States said that the Ayatollah was killed during a rocket attack on his residence. Ali Khamenei ruled Iran for almost 37 years.

The farewell ceremony for the Supreme Leader of Iran will begin on March 4 at 22:00 local time (21:30 Moscow time) and will take place for three days at the Imam Khomeini complex in Tehran, the Iranian Tasnim agency reported .