Iran Quietly Advances Plan for New Supreme Leader as War Widens Across Region

Iranian state media said clerics are close to selecting a successor to Ayatollah Khamenei, while the wider U.S.–Israeli confrontation intensifies with strikes on Iran’s energy and military targets; Iran reportedly has a majority view among the Assembly of Experts on the successor but no name has been announced. Across the region, fighting expands to Lebanon, Iraq, and the West Bank, with attacks on oil depots and desalination plants, civilian casualties, and mass displacement as the United States warns civilians to stay home amid the escalation.