The Israeli Air Force struck a top Iranian meeting on Wednesday where Tehran’s senior clerics had gathered to select a replacement for slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, according to multiple reports. 

The Assembly of Experts, a body made up of 88 members, was allegedly together in the city of Qom when an airstrike hit their building overnight, the Times of Israel reported. 

The strike came just as the mullahs were counting the votes to appoint the next supreme leader, according to FOX News’ chief foreign correspondent. 

Following the attack, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency claimed that the building was an old structure that was no longer used by the assembly for its meetings. 

Hours after the strike occurred, the assembly allegedly named Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, as his successor, Iran International reported. 

Mojtaba was notably among the 40 top lieutenants targeted during the first 48 hours of the war, with conflicting reports on whether or not he survived.   

Mojtaba is known for a staunch adherence to his father’s hardline conservatism, and has close ties to Iran’s notoriously brutal Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military body, according to CNN.

It remains unclear how many members of the assembly, if any, were inside the building and casting a ballot when the building was hit. 

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Viral images from Qom allegedly show the building that housed the Iranian leaders, with the structure left in complete ruins following the blast. 

The bombing ultimately left the building “flattened,” but no injuries or deaths have yet been reported as a result of the strike, The Jerusalem Post reported. 

Iran’s leadership was plunged into chaos following Khamenei’s death on Saturday, with the country’s constitution tasking the Assembly of Experts to name a new successor. 

While there is no strict deadline for a successor to be chosen, the Iranian constitution dictates that the assembly act in the shortest time possible.

The assembly said that choosing a successor for Khamenei “won’t take long,” according to Iran’s ISNA news agency. 

The clerical body, however, could opt to delay naming a successor out of fears that he will be immediately targeted by the US and Israel, officials told Reuters. 

The Assembly of Experts, itself, is made up of publicly elected clerics who have been vetted by Iran’s Guardian Council.

Until the assembly can hold an election, Iran will be run by a temporary three-man council composed of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, who serves as the Guardian Council’s representative.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and  Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the parliament speaker who has capped speeches off with chants of “Death to America, are believed to be among the favorites to succeed Khamenei. 

The strike came just as the Israeli Air Force deployed around 100 fighter jets to drop more than 250 bombs on a “leadership complex” in Tehran, located north of Qom.

The attack targeted Tehran’s presidential bureau, the headquarters of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and compounds used by Iran’s leadership and military, according to the IDF. 

“The leadership complex of the terror regime is one of the most secured assets in Iran and spans many streets in the heart of Tehran,” the IDF said in a statement. 

“The leadership and security officials of the terror regime convened in the compound frequently, and from there conducted, among other things, situation assessments regarding the Iranian nuclear program and the advancement of the plan to destroy the State of Israel,” the Israeli military added. 

Along with Khamenei, US officials estimate that at least 47 other Iranian leaders were killed during the first 48 hours of the war. 

The US has hit around 1,700 targets in the first 72 hours of the war, according to US Central Command. 

Israel, meanwhile, has dropped some 4,000 bombs on Iran as of Tuesday night, the IDF said. 

The attacks have sparked mass retaliations across the region, with Iran and its proxies firing missiles and drones against American troops and US allies. 

Iran’s latest assault struck the US consulate building in Dubai, where United Arab Emirates authorities worked fast to put out a fire. 

Tehran also fired two drones at the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia, which triggered a “limited fire” as well, according to Riyadh. 

At least six American troops have been killed during the war after an Iranian drone struck them at a US military base in Kuwait, with 18 others seriously injured. 

The US State Department is ordering the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and families across several Middle Eastern cities, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the UAE.

As the war continues to heat up, President Trump is allegedly speaking with Kurdish leaders in Iraq about the conflict and what might come next, sources told Axios. 

Iraq’s Kurds have close ties to the Kurdish minority in Iran and, prior to the war, some of its members formed a Kurdish-Iranian opposition group to fight in Iran.

US officials have not publicly discussed Trump’s call with the Kurds, who have had close military ties to Israel.