Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly drafter a short list of potential successors as a contingency in case Israel targets him next.

The Iranian supreme leader has spent much of the last couple of weeks in hiding as Israeli forces systematically targeted nuclear research facilities, nuclear scientists, and military leaders — and as The New York Times reported on Saturday, those targeted strikes have Khamenei worried that he could be next on the list.

According to the report, Khamenei has resorted to speaking through a “trusted aid” and refuses to use electronic communications in order to better obscure his location. The NYTimes quoted several anonymous officials as confirming that the ayatollah had also chosen replacements for a number of his military leaders.

Khamenei, the officials said, is taking steps to avoid being assassinated — but they also said that if an attempt were to succeed, he would view himself as a martyr. “Given the possibility, the ayatollah has made the unusual decision to instruct his nation’s Assembly of Experts, the clerical body responsible for appointing the supreme leader, to choose his successor swiftly from the three names he has provided,” the report stated.

Khamenei’s short list circumvents the typical process for selecting a successor — during which clerics also submit names for consideration — but as Johns Hopkins University professor and Iran expert Vali Nasr explained, “The top priority is the preservation of the state. It is all calculative and pragmatic.”

The surprising move, according to the quoted officials, is that Khamenei did not put his son Mojtaba on the list despite most believing that he was a frontrunner for the position. Instead, the list is reportedly comprised of the names of three senior clerics.

The news came just hours before President Donald Trump announced that the American military had successfully executed strikes on three major nuclear targets in Iran.

The President will make an Address to the Nation at 10:00PM ET. Tune in! pic.twitter.com/WT0AeS3ghA

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) June 22, 2025

Syrian-born anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil, released from detention despite alleged Hamas ties, vowed on Saturday to continue anti-Israel protests while appearing alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) at a New Jersey airport.

Khalil, 30, spent 104 days in a Lousina detention center after his March 8 arrest, as the Trump administration sought to deport the Columbia student for allegedly engaging in activities “aligned to Hamas,” the Palestinian terrorist group responsible for the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

Immediately upon his Friday release following a court order from U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz, Khalil bashed the U.S.-funded “genocide” in Gaza, and even vowed to fight for the rights of the “incredible men” he was imprisoned with in Louisiana, per the New York Post.

“The U.S. government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide,” Khalil declared at the airport. “This is what I was protesting. This is what I will continue to protest with every one of you. Not only if they threaten me with detention, even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine.”

AOC just imbedded herself with a Terrorist Hamas supporter 👍👍👍 Dems 80/20 – we'll take 20 🤣

BREAKING: Mahmoud Khalil Holds Press Gaggle With AOC After Being Released From Immigration Detention https://t.co/WOiRdLUc5k pic.twitter.com/zk8712HIqG

— Joni Job (@jj_talking) June 21, 2025

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who joined Khalil at Newark Liberty International Airport alongside his wife and their newborn son, claimed the allegations against Khalil were politically motivated.

“Because Mahmoud Khalil is an advocate for Palestinian human rights, he has been accused, baselessly, of horrific allegations, simply because the Trump administration and our overall establishment disagrees with his political speech,” the congresswoman claimed to reporters. “We will continue to resist the politicization and the continued political persecution that ICE is engaged in.”

The conditions of Khalil’s bail included surrendering his passport and travel restrictions limiting him to New York, New Jersey, Michigan, to visit his family, Washington, D.C., and Louisiana, where his immigration trial will be held.

Khalil graduated from Columbia in December, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused him of leading “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States,” as The Daily Wire previously reported.

“Condoning antisemitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective,” Rubio added, citing the 1952 Immigration and Naturalization Act, which authorizes the U.S. Secretary of State to deport anyone whose continued residence in the country “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”

Defense attorneys for Khalil celebrated the Syrian’s release as a “significant and important victory,” per the Post.

The Trump administration is appealing Judge Farbiarz’s preliminary injunction and Khalil’s release on bail to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.