Iran has delayed the appointment of a successor to slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over security concerns, two Iranian officials said, after comments from the United States and Israel that the new leader could also be targeted.Ayatollah Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has emerged as a top contender for the job, but concerns about his security have grown after media reports he could become Iran’s new face, said the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Once Khamenei’s name started circulating as a popular candidate to succeed his father, the United States signaled it would not accept him and might eliminate him. “They’re wasting their time,” President Trump told Axios on Thursday, adding that the former supreme leader’s son was “a lightweight” and “unacceptable” choice. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a social media post on Wednesday that any leader appointed by Iran to succeed Khamenei would be a “clear target for elimination.” U.S. and Israeli strikes have so far killed Ayatollah Khamenei and top military commanders and figures involved in the defense, but not clerics. The leaders of all three branches of Iran’s government – the president, judiciary and parliament – are still alive.If Khamenei is appointed as Iran’s top religious, political and military figure, it would mark the continuation of hard-line conservative rule. Khamenei is a mysterious but influential figure who has always operated in the shadow of power and has close ties to the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
