عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iranian Hardline Clerics Seek Swift Naming of New Supreme Leader

An Iranian woman flashes the victory sign while holding a picture of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei as she arrives to attend the Friday prayer ceremony at Mosallah mosque in Tehran, Iran, 06 March 2026. (EPA)
An Iranian woman flashes the victory sign while holding a picture of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei as she arrives to attend the Friday prayer ceremony at Mosallah mosque in Tehran, Iran, 06 March 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

Iranian Hardline Clerics Seek Swift Naming of New Supreme Leader

An Iranian woman flashes the victory sign while holding a picture of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei as she arrives to attend the Friday prayer ceremony at Mosallah mosque in Tehran, Iran, 06 March 2026. (EPA)
An Iranian woman flashes the victory sign while holding a picture of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei as she arrives to attend the Friday prayer ceremony at Mosallah mosque in Tehran, Iran, 06 March 2026. (EPA)

Two influential and ‌hardline Iranian clerics have called for the swift selection of a new supreme leader to help guide the nation amid a new wave of US and Israeli strikes, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

The calls by the clerics suggest that at least some in the clerical establishment are uncomfortable with leaving a three-man council in charge, even temporarily under constitutional rules, after the killing of Supreme Leader Ali ‌Khamenei.

US President ‌Donald Trump has said the ‌US ⁠should have a role ⁠in choosing the new leader, a demand Iran has rejected.

Naser Makarem Shirazi said an appointment was needed swiftly to "help better organize the country’s affairs", state media reported.

Hossein Nouri Hamedani also urged members of the Assembly of Experts, ‌a clerical body charged with choosing the new leader, to accelerate the process ⁠of ⁠picking Khamenei's successor, state media reported.

Following rules laid out in Iran's constitution, a three-man council comprising the president, a senior cleric and the head of the judiciary, has taken on the supreme leader's role until the Assembly of Experts decides.

The constitution states a supreme leader should be chosen within three months, although with war raging, it is not immediately clear how quickly the 88-member Assembly of Experts can convene. Sources have said some clerics have held some consultations online.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Trump Tells Britain he Does Not Need its Help to Win Iran War

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
TT
TT

Trump Tells Britain he Does Not Need its Help to Win Iran War

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

President Donald Trump said on Saturday Britain was giving "serious thought" to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East, but added that the US does not need them to win the war with Iran, in the latest clash between the military allies.

Trump has repeatedly criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggesting this week that he helped "ruin" the countries' historically close relationship after London blocked initial US use of British bases to attack Iran.

In a post ⁠on Truth Social, ⁠Trump said he "will remember" the lack of British support during the conflict with Iran.

"The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East," Reuters quoted Trump as saying.

"That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need ⁠people that join Wars after we’ve already won!"

The social media post comes after Britain's defense ministry said on Saturday it was preparing the Prince of Wales aircraft carrier for possible deployment.

But no final decision has been taken about whether to send it to the Middle East, a British official said.

Starmer has defended his decision not to allow US forces to use British bases to support initial strikes on Iran, saying he needed to be satisfied that any military action was legal and well planned.

He later granted US forces permission to use British ⁠bases for what ⁠he called defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers.

Asked about Trump's comments, British foreign minister Yvette Cooper told Sky News on Sunday: "The thing I've learned doing this job is that you have to focus on substance and not on social media posts."

"We're not going to do things in terms of the rhetoric or hyperbole. We're going to do things on really practical, calm, steady decision making. Because I think that actually the British character more widely is to do things in a serious and steady way."

Starmer earlier this year criticized Trump's desire to buy Greenland and said his comments that European troops avoided frontline combat in the war in Afghanistan were "frankly appalling."

World

Police Investigate Potential Explosion Outside US Embassy in Oslo

Police investigate at the site of incident at the US embassy in Oslo, Norway, 08 March 2026, after a loud bang was reported at the site. EPA/HANS O. TORGERSEN
Police investigate at the site of incident at the US embassy in Oslo, Norway, 08 March 2026, after a loud bang was reported at the site. EPA/HANS O. TORGERSEN
TT
TT

Police Investigate Potential Explosion Outside US Embassy in Oslo

Police investigate at the site of incident at the US embassy in Oslo, Norway, 08 March 2026, after a loud bang was reported at the site. EPA/HANS O. TORGERSEN
Police investigate at the site of incident at the US embassy in Oslo, Norway, 08 March 2026, after a loud bang was reported at the site. EPA/HANS O. TORGERSEN

Norwegian police are investigating a potential explosion outside the US Embassy in Oslo early Sunday, officials said.

No injuries were reported. Police received reports of a “loud bang” or explosion around 1 a.m., Oslo police said in a news release.

PST, the Norwegian police security service, called in additional personnel following the incident but has not changed the country's terror threat level, according to communication adviser Martin Bernsen.

The US Embassy in Oslo referred media queries to the US State Department, which did not immediately return a request for comment. Nor did Oslo police. Other details were not available.

World

Israel Says it Will Pursue Every Successor of Iran's Khamenei

FILE - Smoke rises behind the Azadi (Freedom) monument in Tehran, Iran, on March 3, 2026, following the US-Israeli military attack. (Davoud Ghahrdar/ISNA via AP, File)
FILE - Smoke rises behind the Azadi (Freedom) monument in Tehran, Iran, on March 3, 2026, following the US-Israeli military attack. (Davoud Ghahrdar/ISNA via AP, File)
TT
TT

Israel Says it Will Pursue Every Successor of Iran's Khamenei

FILE - Smoke rises behind the Azadi (Freedom) monument in Tehran, Iran, on March 3, 2026, following the US-Israeli military attack. (Davoud Ghahrdar/ISNA via AP, File)
FILE - Smoke rises behind the Azadi (Freedom) monument in Tehran, Iran, on March 3, 2026, following the US-Israeli military attack. (Davoud Ghahrdar/ISNA via AP, File)

The Israeli military warned it would continue pursuing every successor of Iran's next supreme leader.

In a post ⁠on X in ⁠Farsi, the Israeli military also warned it would ⁠pursue every person who seeks to appoint a successor for Ali Khamenei, referring to the clerical body ⁠charged with ⁠choosing the country’s supreme leader.

The clerical body that will choose Iran's next supreme leader has more or less reached a majority consensus, Assembly of Experts member Mohammadmehdi Mirbaqeri said on Sunday.

The Mehr news agency quoted him as saying "some obstacles" still needed to be resolved regarding the process.

On ⁠Saturday, a senior ⁠cleric in the Assembly of Experts said its members would meet "within one day" to choose the leader.

Iranian media said the group had a minor disagreement over whether their final ⁠decision must follow an in-person meeting or instead be issued without adhering to this formality.

Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, another member of the Assembly of Experts, said in a video released by Nournews on Sunday that an in-person meeting by the assembly for a final vote was not possible under current conditions.

He ⁠said ⁠a candidate had been picked, based on the late supreme leader's advice that Iran's top leader should "be hated by the enemy" instead of praised by it.

"Even the Great Satan (US) has mentioned his name," Heidari Alekasir said of the chosen successor, days after US President Donald Trump said that Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, was an "unacceptable" choice for him.