Majority consensus reached on new supreme leader, Iranian media reports

The clerical body in Iran tasked with choosing the next supreme leader has reached a majority consensus on who the new leader will be, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mohammadmehdi Mirbaqeri was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying "some obstacles" still needed to be resolved.

Iranian media reported on a minor disagreement within the group regarding whether their final decision must follow an in-person meeting or if they could skip the formality given the circumstances.

Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, another member of the Assembly of Experts, said in a video released Sunday by Nour News, which is affiliated with Iran's National Security Council, that an in-person meeting by the assembly for a final vote was not possible under current conditions.

He said that the assembly has picked a candidate, guided by late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's advice that Iran's top leader should be "hated by the enemy" rather than praised by it.

"Even the Great Satan has mentioned his name," Heidari Alekasir said of the chosen successor, in an apparent reference to US President Donald Trump. 

The US president has said he wants to be involved in having a say in the choice for Iran's new leader, while Israel has said that it would pursue any successor to Khamenei.