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As the funeral of the assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was yet to be conducted, Israel made a stern threat which was directed at the future leader of Tehran in the face of the continued tensions between the two countries.
The defence minister of Israel said that whoever got chosen to replace Khamenei, who was killed earlier this week as a result of an organized Israeli-US military operation, will be regarded as a legitimate target to be eliminated. The abnormally premature announcement was as the clerical establishment of Iran was set to meet its Assembly of Experts, the institution that appoints the next supreme leader, and further geopolitical anxieties are brewing at a time when even the mourning over Khamenei is yet to commence.
The impending issue of succession in Tehran has acquired even greater prominence following the untimely attack of Khamenei with numerous people speculating about the next individual who will assume power of the Islamic Republic. The son of the deceased leader, Mojtaba Khamenei is reportedly becoming a leading contender to succeed the influential position as some have claimed that he has been picked to fill the role under duress by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Even though it is a decision made by the Assembly of Experts traditionally, the recent dynamism of manoeuvres by hard line groups and the security forces indicate the unstable nature of power within the Iranian political and religious elite.
The issue of the vacuum in the leadership within Tehran is one that is being perceived as an internal matter of Iran, but also as an essential element in the regional conflict. In indicating that any successor will become a target of elimination, the Israeli officials seem to be trying to affect or discourage the merging of hard line leadership that could trigger the hostilities further. The scenario still is dynamic and the world is watching Iran closely even as the clerics and legislators operate under high pressure to elect a new supreme leader and geopolitical strains between Greece and Israel and its allies keep on increasing.
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