Trump says 'too late' for Iran to seek dialogue, Israel strikes meeting of top leaders during successsion vote
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New explosions rocked eastern and southeastern Tehran on Tuesday afternoon, as AFP reporters witnessed a cloud of gray smoke rising over the Iranian capital on the fourth day of the Israeli-American attack.
Iranian agencies reported that an aerial bombardment destroyed the building of the Iranian Assembly of Experts in the city of Qom, south of Tehran.
🇮🇷🔴 NOW:
— 𝐍𝐢𝐨𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 🇮🇷 ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) March 3, 2026
The Assembly of Experts building in Qom was just razed to the ground.
This institution is responsible for selecting "Supreme Leaders", and has buildings in multiple cities.
pic.twitter.com/7iuIkdj5MI
Meanwhile, Fox News quoted an Israeli official as saying, “We targeted the Assembly of Experts during a meeting to choose a new Supreme Leader.”
This was also reported by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, which quoted a senior official. Israeli media reported that intelligence had identified the location of an planned meeting to choose Khamenei’s successor.
In turn, the Iranian Mehr news agency clarified that the targeted building belonging to the Assembly of Experts in Qom was old, secondary, and not used for meetings.
The Assembly of Experts in Iran has the authority to elect the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.
The Tasnim news agency reported that significant damage was inflicted on residential areas in Revolution Square in central Tehran as a result of the raids.
The Axios website quoted an Israeli military official saying it was not yet clear which members of the Assembly of Experts were in the building at the time of the attack or the extent of the damage, and stated that " the strike on the Assembly of Experts building in Qom today took place while votes for Iran's regime's next supreme leader were being counted."
"We wanted to prevent the Iranians from picking a new leader," the official continued.
A different security source told Yedioth Ahronoth that far fewer than all 88 members of the Assembly of Experts were in the Qom building at the time of the attack.
Earlier, the Israeli military reported that the Air Force had launched a new wave of airstrikes on Tehran on Tuesday.
In a statement, they said, “We have launched the ninth wave of strikes in Tehran,” adding, “The Air Force is now carrying out a large-scale wave of strikes targeting the infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime in Tehran.”
The Israeli military announced that it targeted a senior Iranian figure in Tehran. In a brief statement, it said it had struck “a prominent commander of the Iranian regime in Tehran a short while ago,” without providing further details.
U.S. President Donald Trump stated that it was too late for Iran to seek dialogue with Washington.
He added on the Truth Social platform: “Their air defense, air force, navy, and leadership is gone. They want to talk. I said 'Too late!'"