Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared on X that whoever replaces the killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will face the same fate.
“Every leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue and lead the plan to destroy Israel, to threaten the United States and the free world and the countries of the region, and to suppress the Iranian people—will be an unequivocal target for elimination,” Katz wrote on X. “It does not matter what his name is or the place where he hides.”
“The Prime Minister and I have instructed the IDF to prepare and act by all means to carry out the mission as an integral part of the objectives of Operation ‘Lion’s Roar,'” the statement added. “We will continue to act with full force, together with our American partners, to crush the regime’s capabilities and create the conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow it and replace it.”
According to reports, Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is the favored individual to take control of Iran by the Assembly of Experts.
On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces shared on social media that it “carried out a series of strikes on the Basij and internal security command centers in Tehran belonging to the Iranian terror regime.”
“The targeted command centers were used by the Iranian regime to maintain control throughout Iran,” the IDF noted, adding that it also struck Iran’s missile launchers and other systems.
Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi has called for Iranians to seize the opportunity presented by the elimination of Khamenei and “overthrow the Islamic Republic system.”
“My message to the remaining officials of this Republic of Terror is this,” he wrote, declaring, “Surrender to the people of Iran. Declare your loyalty to my program and the Transition System. And hand over power without further bloodshed.” Pahlavi noted that any attempts by the regime’s remnants to “appoint a successor to Khamenei” are “doomed to fail from the outset. Whoever they place in his stead will not only lack legitimacy but will also be complicit in the crimes of this regime.”
