Any successor to Iran’s Khamenei will be our next “target for assassination”, warns Israel

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday threatened to assassinate any Iranian leader chosen to replace Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was reportedly killed in recent US-Israeli strikes on Tehran.

In a statement posted on X, Katz said any figure selected by Iran’s leadership to pursue hostile policies against Israel and its allies would face direct consequences.

“Any leader selected by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan for Israel’s destruction, threatening the United States, the free world and countries in the region, and suppressing the Iranian people, will be a certain target for assassination, no matter his name or where he hides,” he wrote.

The remarks come amid sharply escalating tensions in the region following coordinated US-Israeli military action against Iranian targets. Iranian authorities have not publicly detailed succession plans, but under the country’s constitutional framework, the appointment of a new supreme leader falls to the Assembly of Experts.

Katz’s comments signal that Israel would consider any future Iranian supreme leader pursuing similar policies as a continued strategic threat, raising concerns of further instability in the region.