Demonstrators hold images of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after he was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Saturday, during an anti-Israeli and U.S. rally. File image: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
The clerical body that will choose Iran’s next Supreme Leader, succeeding Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has more or less reached a majority consensus, Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mohammadmehdi Mirbaqeri said on Sunday (March 8, 2026).
The Mehr news agency quoted him as saying “some obstacles” still needed to be resolved regarding the process.
Israel-Iran war updates on March 8, 2026
On Saturday (March 7, 2026), 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 (March 8, 2026) 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 [U.S.] has mentioned his name,” Heidari Alekasir said of the chosen successor, days after U.S. President Donald Trump said that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, was an “unacceptable” choice for him.
Published – March 08, 2026 01:34 pm IST
