WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump says Iran’s potential new leadership is open to talks with the United States, and that he’s willing to engage.
At the same time, Israel is making sweeping claims about the scale of leadership losses inside Iran and across Iran-aligned groups, raising two urgent questions: who is actually in charge right now, and how does Iran replace a Supreme Leader?
President Donald Trump says Iran’s potential new leadership is open to talks with the United States, and that he’s willing to engage.
What Israel Says It Did and What Can Be Verified
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) posted a statement and graphic, on X, asserting that “all senior terrorist leaders of Iran’s Axis of Terror have been eliminated,” and the IDF material is broader than President Trump’s publicly cited figures.
The IDF post also appears to include figures connected to Iran-backed groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. A key caveat: some names often associated with Iran-aligned leadership losses were publicly reported as killed in earlier events, not necessarily in the current round of strikes. For example, Reuters reported/confirmed in 2024 the deaths of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and senior commander Fuad Shukr, as well as Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil. And Reuters reported in 2025 that Yemen’s Houthis said their chief of staff Muhammad al-Ghamari was killed.
Who Is “In Charge” Right Now, Constitutionally?
Under Iran’s constitution, selecting the next Supreme Leader is the responsibility of the “experts elected by the people” – i.e., the Assembly of Experts – which is widely described as an 88-member clerical body.
Reporting from ABC News says that following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran formed an interim three-person leadership council consisting of:
How Iran Chooses the Next Supreme Leader
Iran’s constitution (Article 107) lays out that the authority to appoint the Leader is vested in the experts elected by the people. Multiple references describing the Assembly of Experts note that it selects a Supreme Leader when the position becomes vacant. On timing: Al Jazeera reports Iran’s foreign minister suggested a new Supreme Leader could be chosen within days.
Does This Mean Regime Change?
Not automatically. Even in a formal transition scenario, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) remains a central power broker. The Council on Foreign Relations describes the IRGC as “one of the most powerful and feared organizations in Iran,” with central roles in power projection, internal security, and the economy. And as the succession process begins, major outlets are explicitly framing the post-strike moment as a power vacuum in which the IRGC’s role could be decisive.
Iran’s constitution (Article 107) lays out that the authority to appoint the Leader is vested in the experts elected by the people. Multiple references describing the Assembly of Experts note that it selects a Supreme Leader when the position becomes vacant. On timing: Al Jazeera reports Iran’s foreign minister suggested a new Supreme Leader could be chosen within days.
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