Wary of assassination, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly moved into a bunker, suspended all electronic communication, and is talking to his officials only through a trusted aide, the New York Times reported.
These reports say to make finding him hard for the Israeli military, which has made taking him down their `war goal.'
The New York Times also reported that Khamenei had established a chain of command in case of his death. The measures come amid Israeli threats to eliminate the Iranian leader. The US President Donald Trump has also said America knows Khamenei's whereabouts but doesn't want to take him down `yet.'
The report emphasized the seriousness of Iran's current situation, noting that Khamenei's son Mojtaba, once rumored to be a frontrunner, is not among the named successors.
He has named three senior clerics as candidates to take over as Supreme Leader in case he is killed.
"Ensconced in a bunker, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has picked an array of replacements down his chain of military command in case more of his valued lieutenants are killed," the New York Times said.
The newspaper has cited three officials who are familiar with the developments and emergency war plans.
"An extraordinary series of steps to safeguard both his life and the leadership structure of the Islamic Republic amid escalating Israeli attacks on Iranian territory," the report said.
Israeli Strikes are the largest Iran has faced since its war with Iraq in 1980, according to the report.
Israel Says It Killed Second Iranian Commander From Elite Quds Force
According to CNN, the Israeli military says it has killed Behnam Shahriyari, the second Iranian commander in the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be targeted in Israeli strikes overnight.
According to reports, Israeli Air Force killed Shahriyari in his vehicle while he was traveling in western Iran, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Saturday.
It said Shahriyari was responsible for weapons transfers from Iran to its proxies across the Middle East and worked for years to arm various militant organizations.
The United States had sanctioned Shahriyari, and according to the UK government, he has been involved in hostile activity by an armed group backed by the Iranian government, facilitating "the destabilization of Israel, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon."
The Quds Force is an arm of the IRGC responsible for operations outside Iran and is tasked with coordinating with allied militant groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.
The IRGC was established in the aftermath of the country's revolution in 1979 and reports to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
400 Iranians killed, 3,056 Wounded In Nine Days Of Israeli Attack, Iran's Health Ministry
According to Aljazeera, Hossein Kermanpour, head of public relations at Iran's Health Ministry, said nine days of attacks have killed more than 400 Iranians, including 54 women and children, and wounded 3,056 others.
Kermanpour added most of the casualties have been civilians.
"Among the injured, 2,220 have been treated and discharged from Ministry of Health hospitals, while 232 received outpatient care at the scene of the attacks. During this period, our dedicated medical teams nationwide have performed 457 surgeries on the wounded."
