Majority consensus reached on Iran’s next supreme leader

Published 08 Mar, 2026 01:03pm 1 min read

The clerical body that will choose ​Iran’s next supreme leader, succeeding the slain Ayatollah ‌Ali Khamenei, has more or less reached a majority consensus, Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mohammadmehdi Mirbaqeri said ​on Sunday.

The Mehr news agency quoted him as ​saying “some obstacles” still needed to be resolved ⁠regarding the process.

On Saturday, a senior cleric in ​the Assembly of Experts said its members would meet “within ​one day” to choose the leader.

Iranian media said the group had a minor disagreement over whether their final decision ​must follow an in-person meeting or instead be ​issued without adhering to this formality.

Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, another member ‌of ⁠the Assembly of Experts, said in a video released by Nournews on Sunday that an in-person meeting by the assembly for a final vote was ​not possible ​under current ⁠conditions.

He said a candidate had been picked, based on the late supreme leader’s ​advice that Iran’s top leader should “be ​hated by ⁠the enemy” instead of praised by it.

“Even the Great Satan (US) has mentioned his name,” Heidari Alekasir said ⁠of ​the chosen successor, days after ​US President Donald Trump said that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, was an “unacceptable” choice ​for him.

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