Iranian state TV on Sunday announced that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late supreme leader, had been named his successor. He had long been considered a contender, even before an Israeli strike killed his father at the start of the war, and despite never being elected or appointed to a government position.
3 of 11 | A cloud of black smoke covered parts of Tehran on Sunday morning following the overnight strikes that hit an oil depot and refinery. The Israeli attack appeared to be the first time a civil industrial facility has been targeted in the war. (AP video by Mohsen Ganji)
4 of 11 | Iran’s president has threatened to step up attacks on American targets throughout the Middle East as the U.S. and Israel press ahead with their air campaign. Masoud Pezeshkian appeared to be backtracking from conciliatory comments he made toward his Gulf neighbors on Saturday, in which he appeared to apologize for attacks on their soil, were quickly contradicted by Iranian hard-liners.
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5 of 11 | A cloud of black smoke covered parts of Tehran on Sunday morning following the overnight strikes that hit an oil depot and refinery. The Israeli attack appeared to be the first time a civil industrial facility has been targeted in the war.
6 of 11 | Iran says that overnight strikes hit four oil storage tankers and a petroleum transfer terminal, killing four people. Much of the city of Tehran has been impacted by the smoke billowing from the refineries as US-Israeli aerial bombardment campaign continues. (AP video shot by Mohsen Ganji)
Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, attends the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally in Tehran, Iran, on May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
7 of 11 | Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, attends the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally in Tehran, Iran, on May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
Mojtaba, son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, attends the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally in Tehran, Iran, on May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
8 of 11 | Mojtaba, son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, attends the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally in Tehran, Iran, on May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
Two women from the Iranian Red Crescent Society stand as a thick plume of smoke from a U.S.-Israeli strike on an oil storage facility late Saturday rises in the sky in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
9 of 11 | Two women from the Iranian Red Crescent Society stand as a thick plume of smoke from a U.S.-Israeli strike on an oil storage facility late Saturday rises in the sky in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Residents look on and take pictures as flames and smoke rise from an oil storage facility struck as attacks hit the city during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Alireza Sotakbar/ISNA via AP)
10 of 11 | Residents look on and take pictures as flames and smoke rise from an oil storage facility struck as attacks hit the city during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Alireza Sotakbar/ISNA via AP)
A man carries shoes from his destroyed house that was hit by Israeli airstrikes hit several houses in Sir al-Gharbiyeh village south Lebanon, Sunday, March, 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
11 of 11 | A man carries shoes from his destroyed house that was hit by Israeli airstrikes hit several houses in Sir al-Gharbiyeh village south Lebanon, Sunday, March, 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
