Israel strikes building used by Iran’s Assembly of Experts amid discussions over Khamenei’s successor

The Israeli Air Force struck a building in Qom, Iran, being used by the Assembly of Experts, the body of religious leaders responsible for choosing the next Supreme Leader, Israeli officials told media outlets on Monday.

Images and videos circulating on social media showed the building reduced to rubble, as crowds gathered outside to survey the damage.

Several news outlets reported religious leaders were in the building at the time of the strike; however, that has not been confirmed by either Israeli or Iranian officials. 

The building of Iran’s Assembly of Experts in Qom, south of Tehran, was destroyed in an airstrike as its 88 members was convening to select a new Supreme Leader, sources tell Israeli media. pic.twitter.com/Yo6ws9zznU

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) March 3, 2026

The Times of Israel cited an Israeli defense source who confirmed the building was targeted while clerics were gathered inside, but did not specify how many were present at the time of the strike.

A defense official told Axios the strike came while votes were being counted. "We wanted to prevent them from picking a new supreme leader," the official said.

The regime-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported that “American-Zionist criminals attacked the Assembly of Experts building in Qom,” confirming the building in the Shia holy city had been targeted. It also reported that the compound of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran was struck on Monday night by Israeli and American aircraft.

Iran International cited an anti-regime TV channel report stating, "This is an unprecedented event in the history of the Islamic Republic. Many council members have been killed and wounded. Apart from the fact that this incident is a fatal blow to the half-life of the Islamic Republic, the immediate result is that there is no longer a leader in the Islamic Republic and no one who can choose a leader for this system.” 

While there has been no official confirmation that assembly members were present at the site during the strike, previous strikes against senior leadership meetings – including the one in which Khamenei was killed on Saturday – suggest that such a gathering would likely have been intentionally targeted by Israel and the U.S.

Under the Iranian constitution, the Assembly of Experts, comprised of 88 senior clerics of Shia Islam, has the responsibility to choose the Supreme Leader. The council has not met in this capacity since it appointed Khameini in 1989.

According to a New York Times report, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed a three-member committee about two years ago to vet potential successors in the event he was assassinated by Israel.

Two out of three members of the interim council currently leading the country are members of the Assembly of Experts: Ayatollah Alireza Arafi and Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, who holds the lower rank of Hojjat al-Islam.

Around the same time the strike was carried out on the building, the Mossad’s Farsi-language account on 𝕏 posted a message stating, “It doesn't matter who is chosen today; his fate has been decreed. Only the Iranian nation will choose their future leader.” 

مهم نیست  امروز چه کسی انتخاب میشود سرنوشت  او قلم زده شده، تنها ملت ایران راهبر آتی خود را انتخاب خواهند کرد pic.twitter.com/dwyRW6ZB4U

— Mossad Farsi (@MossadSpokesman) March 3, 2026

Sometime later, the military announced it had completed another wave of airstrikes against Iranian military targets in Tehran and Isfahan. 

The IDF reported hitting “infrastructure and sites used by the regime for the production of weapons, with an emphasis on ballistic missile production sites.” The strikes came after the IDF Farsi account posted warnings instructing the population to evacuate the targeted areas, showing a map of the locations to be struck. 

‼️هشدار فوری به کلیه افراد مستقر در ناحیه صنعتی استقلال در تهران بر اساس ناحیه مشخص شده قرمز رنگ بر روی نقشه ضمیمه.

⭕️ارتش اسرائیل همچنان که در روزهای اخیر در منطقه تهران برای حمله به زیرساخت های نظامی رژیم ایران اقدام کرده است، طی ساعات آینده در این ناحیه فعالیت خواهد نمود.… pic.twitter.com/SMHyGyjHbt

— ارتش دفاعی اسرائیل | IDF Farsi (@IDFFarsi) March 3, 2026

This is similar to the warnings the IDF issues before carrying out strikes in populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon.