He is the son of assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israel strikes attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.
Iranian state television confirmed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed by airstrikes in Tehran on the first day of strikes. His successor is yet to be named.
Iran is responding to the operation with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases and multiple Gulf nations. Israel is also intensifying its long-running strike campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
(Read previous Iran live updates here.)
Watch special coverage on Nightline, "War with Iran," each night on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Wednesday that any new leader appointed by the Iranian regime "will be an unequivocal target for elimination."
A successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- who was killed in joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Saturday -- is yet to be publicly announced.
-ABC News' Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor
The Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday morning that it has begun "broad scale strikes targeting" the Iranian regime in Tehran.
The announcement followed another IDF notice on Wednesday morning that it had carried out airstrikes on "dozens" of the Iranian regime's command centers.
-ABC News' Dana Savir, Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor
Qatar Airways said Wednesday that its flight operations "remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace," with the airline expecting to "resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace."
The airline said its next update will be provided on Friday by 9 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET).
-ABC News' Jessica Gorman
Regional nations continued to face Iranian attacks overnight, officials said, as the U.S.-Israeli operation entered its fifth day.
The Saudi Defense Ministry reported the interception of nine drones and two cruise missiles.
In Kuwait, the Defense Ministry's spokesperson said that several "hostile aerial targets" were intercepted within the nation's airspace. Debris fell onto a residential home, the spokesperson said, causing damage and injuries.
Bahrain's Interior Ministry issued an alert after the sounding of air raid sirens, urging residents to take shelter.
The Israel Defense Forces also issued new alerts for Iranian ballistic missile launches overnight.
The U.K.'s Maritime Trade Operations Centre, meanwhile, reported another maritime incident 7 nautical miles east of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. A vessel, it said, was "struck by an unknown projectile causing damage to the steel plating."
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
