Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that any potential successor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would be a "target" doomed to be eliminated, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
"Any leader chosen by Iran's terrorist regime will be an unequivocal target for elimination," Katz said.
"The Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu - ed.) and I have personally ordered the armed forces to prepare to act with all means to fulfill this mission," he added.
According to one Iranian and three foreign media outlets, the second son of the late Ali Khamenei has already been chosen as Iran's Supreme Leader - Mojtaba.
The second son of the Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in Israeli-American air strikes - Mojtaba Khamenei, has been elected as the new Supreme Leader of Iran. The news was reported by the Iranian opposition media outlet “Iran International“, the Italian agency ANSA, the Israeli publication ynetnews and the Arabic branch of “Sky” - “Sky News Arabia”, which emphasize, however, that Iranian official media have not yet confirmed the news.
Mojtaba is the second son of Khamenei. He is 56 years old - he was born in Mashhad in September 1969. It is believed that he was Ali Khamenei's favorite son. He maintains very good relations with Iran's security forces. During his military service, he participated in the Iran-Iraq War from 1987 to 1988. He studied in Qom to become a religious leader.
Mojtaba is also much discussed for his wealth, which includes real estate in the West, including London and Frankfurt, as well as a large investment portfolio.
In 2005, he supported the hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for president of Iran. It is believed that he also played a leading role in Ahmadinejad's re-election four years later, which then sparked a wave of protests.
According to “Iran International“ Mojtaba was named as the successor to the ayatollah a year ago by his father.