Iran's Khamenei 'seriously ill', son likely to take over as country plans retaliation against Israel: Report

As Iran plans its retaliatory attack against Israel, reports are emerging that the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “seriously ill”. According to a New York Times report, the 85-year-old Iranian supreme leader is suffering from a serious medical condition. The report suggested that Khamenei’s second-oldest son, Mojtaba Khamenei will likely succeed him when he dies.

The American news outlet mentioned that Khamenei’s condition stirred a major battle over who will be his successor. It is believed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) would also have a say in who would be the country’s new successor when Khamenei dies.

It is pertinent to note that concerns about finding the Iranian supreme leader’s successor grew following the death of the country’s radical president Ebrahim Raisi. The Iranian president, along with the foreign minister was killed in a helicopter crash in May this year.

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Iran looks for plans to retaliate 

Khamenei has been serving as Iran’s Supreme Leader since 1989 after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the first to hold the title. The New York Times report came shortly after Israel conducted a retaliatory “precision strike” against several Iranian military targets. The Israeli authorities noted that the operation was conducted in response to Iran’s missile attack on October 1.

Iranian officials have said that while they do not want to escalate the conflict with Israel, any act of aggression will not go unanswered. While attacking military targets in Iran, reports said that Israel had also struck targets in Iraq and Syria, The Jerusalem Post reported.

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Amid all the chaos and speculations over his health, the Iranian Supreme Leader opened a Hebrew-language account on X, formally known as Twitter, shortly after the Israeli attack. His first post read: “In the name of Allah the merciful and compassionate.”

בשם אללה הרחמן והרחום

— Khamenei.ir Hebrew (@Khamenei_Heb) October 26, 2024

Meanwhile, on Saturday, US President Joe Biden said that he hopes Israel’s latest strikes on Iran will mark the end of the months-long cycle of airstrikes. “I hope this is the end,” he told reporters. The president maintained that the Israeli authorities gave him a heads up and it appeared “they didn’t hit anything but military targets” in their attacks, The Guardian reported. With just a few months left in the office, the Biden administration is now pushing to revive the stalled Gaza ceasefire negotiations.

With inputs from agencies.