Iran’s supreme leader named three senior Islamic clerics as his potential successors in case he is killed in ongoing hostilities with Israel, the New York Times reported.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, named the clerics while hunkering down in a bunker in what appears to be the most obvious sign of a possible end to his over 35-year rule of Iran, the outlet reported, citing three unnamed Iranian officials. He reportedly sent the names to the Assembly of Experts — the religious council that appoints the supreme leader — urging them to select his successor from the trio. The process, which typically takes months, could now take a shorter time, considering the now two-week-long conflict with Israel over Iran’s nuclear program.

Khamenei also named replacements down his military command chain in a bid to prevent a power vacuum after Israeli strikes killed several officers in the country’s top brass — including Mohammad Bagheri, commander-in-chief of Iran’s military and second highest commander after Khamenei, and Gholamali Rashid, deputy commander-in-chief of the Iranian armed forces.

Khamenei’s decision to name possible successors was unusual but signified his belief that either Israel or the U.S. could assassinate him—or, as he preferred, make him a martyr, the Iranian officials reportedly told the outlet.

“The top priority is the preservation of the state,” Vali Nasr, an Iran expert and professor of international affairs at Johns Hopkins University, told the outlet. “It is all calculative and pragmatic.”

One of Khamenei’s sons, Mojtaba, rumored to be a likely successor, is not one of the three, the officials reportedly told the Times. Iran’s former President Ebrahim Raisi appeared likely to succeed Khamenei before dying in a helicopter crash May 2024, according to the outlet.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. “know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding” and dubbed him “an easy target” but said “we” would not kill Khamenei “at least not for now.”

Iranian officials told the outlet that the ongoing conflict has two fronts — one being in the air and the other on the ground against Israeli undercover agents and collaborators, the presence of which reportedly unnerved Khamenei himself.

Israel smuggled in missile and drone components into Iran. It then attacked Iran’s defenses and military bases, its energy infrastructure, and nuclear facilities, eliminating not only some of Iran’s military commanders but also some of its nuclear scientists, the Times reported. (RELATED: Israel Not Interested In Peace Talks With Iran, Netanyahu Says)

“It is clear that we had a massive security and intelligence breach; there is no denying this,” said Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser to Iran’s speaker of Parliament, Gen. Mohammad Ghalibaf, in an audio recording analyzing the war, according to the outlet. “Our senior commanders were all assassinated within one hour.”

Since the open conflict between Israel and Iran began, Khamenei has spoken to the Iranian people twice, vowing that his country would never surrender.

Trump said Thursday that he would decide whether the U.S. would directly enter into the conflict within the next two weeks.