Iran Has Appointed The Assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Son As Its New Supreme Leader
Mojtaba is considered hardline even by the standards of Iran's leadership, with deep ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Iran has named Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's new supreme leader, just nine days after the US and Israel launched a war on Iran and assassinated Ali, his wife and other family members on Feb. 28.
Iran is run according to religious law, and its most powerful figure is not the president but the supreme leader, a senior Islamic cleric who has final say over foreign policy, the military and the courts.
Under Iran's constitution, when the supreme leader dies, a body called the Assembly of Experts — 88 Islamic clerics — is responsible for choosing a replacement.
On Sunday, March 8, Iran's state TV announced the Assembly of Experts had elected 56-year-old Mojtaba as the third supreme leader of Iran in what it called a "decisive vote."
Mojtaba is considered hardline even by the standards of Iran's leadership, with deep ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
He served in the IRGC and commanded the Basij, a paramilitary force that was reportedly used to violently suppress protesters in 2009.
Mojtaba has never held elected office or spoken publicly in any significant way, and many Iranians have reportedly never heard his voice, but he reportedly ran his father's inner circle and was previously called the “power behind the robes.”
A member of the Assembly said Mojtaba was picked in part because he was "hated by the enemy."
Analysts say his appointment signals that the people around him see little interest in negotiating an end to the current war.
US President Donald Trump had previously called Mojtaba an "unacceptable" choice and said any new leader who didn't have his approval "is not going to last long."
The Israeli military warned it would target any successor to Ali, including those involved in the selection process.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said the appointment marked a "new era of dignity and strength" for Iran.
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