Iran To Pick New Supreme Leader Within 24 Hours

A member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts has said the body could meet within the next 24 hours to select the country’s next Supreme Leader, according to Iranian media reports on Saturday.

Hossein Mozafari, one of the assembly’s 88 members, told the Fars News Agency that the session would be convened soon.

“With divine assistance, this session will occur within the next twenty-four hours,” Mozafari said.

The development comes about a week after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a joint United States–Israeli attack.

Mozafari also urged citizens to avoid speculation and the spread of rumours, noting that the assembly had not yet formally convened to begin deliberations.

Meanwhile, the United States has condemned Iran’s drone strikes earlier this week on a border region in Azerbaijan, describing the attack as a “needless escalation” amid the ongoing Middle East conflict.

In a statement on Saturday, US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the “unprovoked drone attack” on Thursday targeted an airport and a school in Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani exclave bordering Iran, leaving several civilians injured.

“These strikes are a flagrant violation of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and a needless escalation of Iran’s aggression,” Pigott said.

He added that attacks against American partners in the region were unacceptable and that the US would continue to support its allies.

Elsewhere, explosions were reported on Saturday night in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, and in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, according to AFP journalists.

The cause of the explosions in Baghdad was not immediately clear. However, a witness near the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the US embassy, reported seeing air defence systems activated over the area.

Several drones have been intercepted near Baghdad International Airport since the start of the conflict in the Middle East.

In Erbil, an AFP journalist reported hearing the sound of a drone shortly before at least three loud explosions.

Since the outbreak of the conflict, drones have repeatedly been intercepted over the city, which hosts a major US consulate complex