Tehran is in shock tonight after a joint Israeli–US airstrike obliterated a heavily guarded compound where Iran’s powerful Assembly of Experts was reportedly meeting behind closed doors to choose a successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Residents in northern Tehran described a “sun exploding at street level” as precision munitions slammed into the reinforced complex, sending a concrete mushroom cloud soaring above the capital. Windows shattered for blocks, and fragments of official limousines were found scattered across nearby avenues.

Western intelligence sources say multiple senior clerics and IRGC political envoys were inside the building, working through shortlists for the Islamic Republic’s next leader amid growing questions over Khamenei’s health. “This was the brain of the regime’s future, not its past,” one senior official said, calling the strike “a decapitation of tomorrow’s Iran.”

Tehran has vowed “limitless revenge,” accusing Washington and Jerusalem of trying to behead the revolution itself by targeting the very council empowered to choose the Supreme Leader. State TV aired images of charred turbans, blood‑stained robes and smoking ruins as anchors demanded a response “that will echo from Haifa to Washington.”

The White House and IDF have not denied responsibility, insisting only that “a lawful military target crucial to Iran’s war machine” was hit. But analysts warn tonight’s operation may have crossed a line no side can easily step back from: transforming a regional air war into an all‑out battle over the future of Iran’s leadership—and the balance of power in the Middle East for decades to come.