Mojtaba Khamenei chosen as Iran's next supreme leader, Iranian state media reports

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.

Mar 08, 2026, 1:13 PM EDT

Assembly of Experts member says majority leaning toward Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as next leader

A member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for choosing the leader of the Islamic Republic, said Sunday that the majority of assembly members want the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, to be Iran's next leader.

No official decision has been made, but it is the first time an assembly member has publicly spoken out.

Mojtaba, son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, attends the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally in Tehran, Iran, May 31, 2019.
Vahid Salemi/AP

"The enemy is trying to disrupt a majority in-person meeting of the Assembly of Experts by attacks, but the members of the Assembly of Experts have practically reached an option," Asgar Dirbaz, member of the Assembly of Experts, said in an interview with the Mehr News Agency.

"The majority's opinion is in favor of the son of His Eminence (i.e., Ali Khamenei's son)," Dirbaz added.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian

Mar 08, 2026, 12:28 PM EDT

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson accused US and Israel of 'chemical warfare'

A spokesperson of Iran's foreign ministry said Sunday that the United States and Israel have taken the war into a "dangerous new phase" with attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure.

"These attacks on fuel storage facilities amount to nothing less than intentional chemical warfare against the Iranian citizens," Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for the foreign ministry, said in a post on X.

Plumes of smoke from a U.S.-Israeli strike on an oil facility late Saturday linger and merge with the cloudy sky over Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026.
Vahid Salemi/AP

Following the attacks on oil depots of Tehran's oil depots, Iran's environmental protection agency and the Red Crescent Society warned about the risks of acid rain over the capital.

The deputy head of emergency training in Tehran, however, warned that the risk of inhaling toxic gases is greater than acid rain due to the pollution from the attack on fuel tanks in Tehran. He urged citizens to stay indoors as much as possible and avoid unnecessary outdoor activities.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian

Mar 08, 2026, 11:55 AM EDT

Leavitt says sending in ground troops to Iran remains an option for Trump

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Sunday that the Iran war would, for now, remain an air campaign, adding that President Donald Trump has not removed sending in ground troops from his table of options.

"It has been, and it will continue to be,” Leavitt said Sunday morning on Fox about the current U.S. military operations, which have largely been an air campaign.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, March 4, 2026.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

“And President Trump wisely does not remove options off the table," Leavitt said. "I know a lot of politicians like to do that quickly, but the president, as commander-in-chief, wants to continue to assess the success of this military operation. It's not part of the current plan right now, but the president, again, wisely keeps his options on the table."

Leavitt was also asked about how the conflict in the Middle East is impacting the economy, and how that might influence the hotly-contested midterm elections in November.

Leavitt said Trump can "walk and chew gum at the same time" by handling conflicts abroad and tackling domestic issues related to the economy.

-ABC News' Isabella Murray

Mar 08, 2026, 11:06 AM EDT

Trump says next supreme leader 'is not going to last long' without his OK

As the Iranians get closer to naming their next supreme leader, President Donald Trump said Sunday the new leader "is not going to last long" if the Iranians don't get his approval first.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while traveling aboard Air Force One en route from Dover Air Force Base, Del., to Miami, March 7, 2026.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP

"He’s going to have to get approval from us," Trump told ABC News' chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce. "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."

The president added, "I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again, or worse, let them have a nuclear weapon," he said.

-ABC News' Mary Bruce and Justin Fishel

Related Topics

Sponsored Content by Taboola