Tehran: Strikes carried out by Israel and the United States on Tuesday damaged the Tehran premises of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the influential body responsible for selecting the country’s next supreme leader, according to Iranian news outlets. 

The Tasnim news agency reported that “the American-Zionist criminals attacked the Assembly of Experts building in Qom,” describing the strike as targeting the institution located south of Tehran. Local media broadcast images showing extensive structural destruction at the site.

The Council of Experts is the Iranian regime’s body responsible for selecting a new supreme leader. Clerics on the council will vote on a shortlist of candidates prepared by a smaller, secret committee.

The report comes days after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in US–Israeli strikes on Saturday, an event that has intensified regional tensions and placed renewed focus on the succession process overseen by the Assembly of Experts.

There was no immediate information on who was inside the building.

New blasts reported around Tehran

AFP journalists in the Iranian capital said fresh explosions were heard on Tuesday in the east and southeast of the city, marking the fourth consecutive day of coordinated strikes by the US and Israel. They observed a column of grey smoke rising into the sky, though the specific targets were not immediately known.

State-linked Mehr and Tasnim agencies also reported the blasts but did not release further information.

(With inputs from agencies)