by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News March 3, 2026

While Israel on Tuesday carried out air strikes on the facility where Iran usually selects its leaders and on what it said is a “covert” Iranian nuclear site, Iran’s clerical leaders chose Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba as the new supreme leader.

Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen under pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), informed sources told Iran International.

The sources said that, with airstrikes ongoing, it was not feasible to convene a session of the Assembly of Experts, the constitutional body responsible for selecting the supreme leader. As a result, the IRGC pushed for the appointment of the next leader to take place outside the legally prescribed procedures.

Israeli air strikes on Tuesday hit the building in the holy city of Qom, Iran, associated with the country’s Assembly of Experts, the 88-member clerical body constitutionally responsible for selecting the next supreme leader, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Effie Defrin confirmed to Fox News Digital.

“We struck a few targets involved in terrorism,” Defrin said.

Iranian media has claimed the building was empty at the time of the strikes. Israel does not yet have a battle damage assessment, Defrin said.

The Trump Administration has said 49 top Iranian leaders were taken out in the opening phase of Operation Epic Fury, which Trump said is “ahead of schedule.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that it struck the “Minzadehei” nuclear weapons complex, which it said allowed a group of Iranian nuclear scientists to operate “covertly to develop a key component in the nuclear weapons system.”

“The strike denies a core component in Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons,” the IDF said in a statement.

Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council on Mirdamad Street in Tehran was destroyed after being targeted in an airstrike on Monday, footage released by Iranian media showed.

The council is a powerful state body that selects the clerical member of the Interim Leadership Council and… pic.twitter.com/GacleBWS0V

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) March 3, 2026

🎯 NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT SITE STRUCK

The covert ‘Minzadehei’ compound was used by a group of nuclear scientists who operated to develop a key component for nuclear weapons.

Using intelligence, the IDF tracked the activities at this new location, removing a key component… pic.twitter.com/xwXQud49gN

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 3, 2026

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