Iran could be hours away from installing a new supreme leader, with stateFars Newsreporting early Saturday that a successor may be selected within the next 24 hours, but there are signs of a potential factional power struggle - somewhat expected given the complex history of reform vs. hardline Islamic interpretations inside Iran.

The outlet cited sources within the Assembly of Experts, which is the 88-member body of Islamic jurists elected every eight years and tasked with choosing the country's top clerical authority. The process was "paused" this week amid the heavy bombing campaign.

There were reports earlier this week that the US-Israeli Operation Epic Fury had struck a Tehran building where the Assembly of Experts were meeting, but such battlefield claims by US and Israeli officials remain hard to ultimately verify, given the intensify of the bombardment and fog of war.

The development comes as the war continues to intensify, as President Trump vows to keep hitting Iran harder.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehranwill "never surrender" to Washington or Tel Aviv, even as he issued an apology to neighboring Gulf states after Iranian strikes targeted locations linked to American military assets stationed in the region.And civilian sites in Gulf cities have also clearly been directly hit, such as airports - though the Iranians' own airports have been struck.

The process for choosing a new Supreme Leaders is likely intense as the bombs fall, and there's likely internal divide over how to handle the crisis among the country's long-standing political factions...

Succession Crisis in Tehran, A Coup in the Making?Divisions inside Iran’s leadership are now spilling into the public sphere. Hardline outlet Raja News@Rajanews_ir, which reflects the views of hawkish factions within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard aligned camp, sharply…https://t.co/tBmu3G4hkmpic.twitter.com/WcaekQ5Cmt

One name has emerged as likely front-runner, at least according to the Westernmedia consensus:

The senior clerics responsible for selecting Iran’s next supreme leader met on Tuesday to deliberate, and theson of the slain former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, emerged as the clear front-runner, according to three Iranian officials familiar with the deliberations.

The officials said that the clerics were considering announcing that the son, Mojtaba Khamenei, would be his father’s successor as early as Wednesday morning but that some had expressed reservations,fearing that it could expose him as a target for the United States and Israel. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations.

Source: ZeroHedge News