US President Donald Trump has finally responded to reports that Iran’s clerics have reached "majority consensus” of selecting a new supreme leader, a week after the martyrdom of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israel joint attacks.
Trump stated that the new leader “is not going to last long” without his approval of selection.
“He’s going to have to get approval from us. If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long. We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it,” Trump told ABC News.
According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, “There are lots of rumors around, but we have to wait for the Assembly of Experts to convene and vote for the new Supreme Leader.”
While commenting onTrump’s assertion, Araghchi stated, “We allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs. This is up to the Iranian people. It is only the business of the Iranian people.”
Earlier today, March 8, 2026, a report from Reuters suggested that Iran is near to announce the country’s next supreme leader, as a successor to Ayatollah Khamenei.
According to Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mohammadmehdi Mirbaqeri, there are "some obstacles" still needed to be resolved regarding the process.
On Saturday, a senior cleric in the Assembly of Experts stated that its members would meet "within one day" to select the leader.
As per Iranian media, two members of the panel, Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir and Ahmad Alamolhoda stated that the assembly has selected a successor.
As per Alamolhoda, the head of the assembly’s secretariat, Ayatollah Hashem Hosseini Bushehri, is responsible for revealing the assembly’s decision.
Since the war started on February 28, over 1,000 individuals in Iran, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been killed in Israeli and US strikes.
