
The Israeli Air Force on Tuesday struck a building in the holy Iranian city of Qom where senior clerics had gathered to elect Iran's new Supreme Leader, Axios reports, citing an Israeli defense source.
According to the official, the attack was carried out while votes were being counted inside the building of the Assembly of Experts – the clerical body that has the constitutional authority to appoint the head of the Islamic Republic.
"We wanted to prevent them from electing a new supreme leader," the Israeli source was quoted as saying to Axios.
The semi-official Iranian Tasnim news agency reported that "American-Zionist criminals" attacked the Assembly of Experts building in Qom, a day after the body's compound in Tehran was also hit by bombings.