Senior Iranian clerics were left “exposed” and scrambling after an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Qom where they were expected to meet to discuss who should succeed the slain supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to defense analysts.

The targeted meeting involved members of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the powerful council tasked with selecting the country’s next supreme leader.

“This second strike is another embarrassment for what remains of the regime,” said Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute.
“It signals intelligence dominance — any movement is detected. They would feel exposed, insecure and hunted.”

Michael added that Iran’s leadership now likely feels isolated and vulnerable not only to foreign attacks but to internal unrest.
“They would understand the greatest risk may now come from home — a potential uprising.”

An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson confirmed the Israeli Air Force struck the building where senior clerics had planned to gather, though it remains unclear how many of the Assembly’s 88 members were present.

The strike comes amid an expanding U.S.–Israeli campaign against Iran’s leadership and military infrastructure. According to U.S. Central Command, more than 1,700 targets have been hit across Iran in the first 72 hours of operations, including command centers, IRGC headquarters, air defenses and missile sites.

“We need strategic patience and determination,” Michael said. “In several weeks, most of the job will be accomplished. Even if the regime doesn’t collapse, Iran will not be the same country we used to know.”

With succession planning now directly targeted, analysts say Tehran’s clerical elite faces a stark new reality: choosing a new supreme leader while under active military pressure and intense internal instability.