The Israeli Air Force struck a top Iranian meeting on Wednesday where Tehran’s senior clerics had gathered to select a replacement for slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, according to multiple reports.
The Assembly of Experts, a body made up of 88 members, were allegedly together in the city of Qom when an airstrike hit their building overnight, the Times of Israel reported.
The strike came just as the mullahs were counting the votes to appoint the next supreme leader, according to Fox News.
Following the attack, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency claimed that the building was an old structure that was no longer used by the assembly for its meetings.
It remains unclear how many members of the assembly, if any, were inside the building and casting a ballot when the building was hit.
Viral images from Qom allegedly show the building that housed the Iranian leaders, with the structure left in complete ruins following the blast.
The bombing ultimately left the building “flattened,” but no injuries or deaths have yet been reported as a result of the strike, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Iran’s leadership was plunged into chaos following Khamenei’s death on Saturday, with the country’s constitution tasking the Assembly of Experts to name a new successor.
While there is no strict deadline for a successor to be chosen, the Iranian constitution dictates that the assembly act in the shortest time possible.
The assembly said that choosing a successor for Khamenei “won’t take long,” according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.
The clerical body, however, could opt to delay naming a successor out of fears that he will be immediately targeted by the US and Israel, officials told Reuters.
The Assembly of Experts, itself, is made up of publicly elected clerics who have been vetted by Iran’s Guardian Council.
Until the assembly can hold an election, Iran will be run by a temporary three-man council composed of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, who serves as the Guardian Council’s representative.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the parliament speaker who has capped speeches off with chants of “Death to America, are believed to be among the favorites to succeed Khamenei.
The strike came just as the Israeli Air Force deployed around 100 fighter jets to drop more than 250 bombs on a “leadership complex” in Tehran, located north of Qom.
The attack targeted Tehran’s presidential bureau, the headquarters of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and compounds used by Iran’s leadership and military, according to the IDF.
“The leadership complex of the terror regime is one of the most secured assets in Iran and spans many streets in the heart of Tehran,” the IDF said in a statement.
“The leadership and security officials of the terror regime convened in the compound frequently, and from there conducted, among other things, situation assessments regarding the Iranian nuclear program and the advancement of the plan to destroy the State of Israel,” the Israeli military added.
Along with Khamenei, US officials estimate that at least 47 other Iranian leaders were killed during the first 48 hours of the war.
