IDF threatens to kill Iran’s new leadership | 9 March 2026 | The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has threatened to assassinate anyone who replaces the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iran’s supreme leader. Khamenei and several other senior Iranian officials were killed in the first wave of U.S.‑Israeli airstrikes launched on February 28. …The Assembly of Experts announced on Monday that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, has been chosen to succeed him. In a statement posted to the IDF’s Farsi account hours before the Assembly announced its decision, the Israeli army issued a warning to its members. “The hand of the State of Israel will continue to pursue every successor and every person involved in his appointment,” the IDF said, adding that it “would not hesitate to target” the clerics attending the assembly’s meetings.