Global Tensions Rise as Iran Picks New Supreme Leader After Khamenei’s Death, Trump Warns Successor

Tensions in the Middle East escalated on Sunday as Iran moved closer to announcing a successor to its slain supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, amid warnings from the United States and ongoing military confrontations with Israel.

Nine days after the war that claimed the life of Khamenei, three members of Iran’s powerful clerical body, the Assembly of Experts, confirmed that a successor had already been chosen.

However, several hours after the announcement, the identity of the new supreme leader had yet to be made public.

A member of the Assembly, Hossein Redaei, said the body had completed the voting process to select the next leader but explained that wartime conditions made it unsafe to convene a public, in-person meeting to formally announce the decision.

Speculation has intensified that Khamenei’s 56-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, could be named as his father’s successor.

Mojtaba is widely regarded as a conservative figure with strong ties to Iran’s powerful military institution, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump stirred controversy by suggesting that Iran’s next supreme leader would struggle to remain in power without Washington’s approval.

“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump said in an interview with ABC News on Sunday, referring to Iran’s next leader. “If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long.”

However, Iran swiftly rejected the remarks. The country’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, insisted the leadership decision remained an internal matter for Tehran.

Speaking on Meet the Press, Araghchi declared that Iran would “allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs,” while also demanding that Trump apologise to people across the Middle East for the escalating conflict.

The war has continued to intensify, with Israel launching fresh overnight operations.

Airstrikes targeted fuel storage facilities in and around Tehran, while another strike hit a hotel in Beirut believed to house Iranian military commanders.

According to an Israeli military statement, warplanes struck five oil installations near Tehran, killing at least four people and covering parts of the Iranian capital in thick, acrid smoke that residents described as making the air nearly unbreathable.

Israel also issued a stark warning to whoever succeeds Khamenei, stating that it would not hesitate to target Iran’s next leader if hostilities continue.

The conflict has already drawn in the United States. On Saturday, Trump attended the return ceremony for the bodies of six American service members killed in a drone attack on a US military base in Kuwait last week.

Despite mounting international concern, analysts say there is still no clear path to ending the war. US and Israeli officials have warned the fighting could continue for a month or longer.

Trump has suggested that Iran’s economy could be rebuilt if the country installs a leader “acceptable” to Washington.

Meanwhile, global powers including China and Russia both close partners of Tehran have largely remained on the sidelines.

China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, said the conflict should never have occurred and warned against escalating violence.

“The world cannot return to the law of the jungle,” he told reporters in Beijing.
In a renewed call for peace, Pope Leo XIV urged world leaders to end the violence.
“I pray that the roar of the bombs may cease, the weapons may fall silent, and that space for dialogue may open,” the pontiff said during his Sunday appeal.