Jerusalem, March 4 -- Israel struck a building in the Iranian city of Qom where senior clerics had gathered to appoint a successor to supreme leader Ayataollah Ali Khameini, an Israeli security official said.

Khamenei, who led Iran since 1989, was assassinated on Saturday, prompting the rare convening of the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body constitutionally tasked with selecting the country's supreme leader.

The council has not met since 1989 when it appointed Khameini.

According to the Israeli security official, it was not immediately clear exactly how many of the assembly's 88 members were inside the building during the strike.

Iran's state news agency claimed that the building hit was an unused, dilapidated building and not a...