Iran Names Khamenei’s Son as New Supreme Leader After Father’s Killing
Mojtaba Khamenei appointed to lead Islamic Republic through its biggest crisis as war with US-Israel enters second week.
Iran has named Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader, just over a week after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in joint US-Israeli strikes that have plunged the region into an expanding war.
The 56-year-old was selected by the 88-member Assembly of Experts on Sunday to lead the Islamic Republic through what analysts describe as the biggest crisis in its 47-year history. Key leaders, Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the armed forces have pledged their backing to the new leader.
Who is Mojtaba Khamenei?
The new supreme leader has never run for office or been subjected to public vote but has been a highly influential figure in his father’s inner circle for decades, cultivating deep ties with the IRGC. He studied under conservative clerics in the seminaries of Qom and holds the clerical rank of hojjatoleslam.
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem described him as his “father’s gatekeeper,” noting he adopts his father’s confrontational positions toward the United States and Israel. “We are expecting a confrontational leader. We’re not expecting any moderation,” Hashem said.
Leadership Pledge Unity
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf welcomed the choice, saying following the new supreme leader is a “religious and national duty.” The Assembly of Experts stated it “did not hesitate for a minute” in choosing a successor despite what it called “the brutal aggression of the criminal America and the evil Zionist regime.”
US-Israel Response
US President Donald Trump had previously warned that any successor to Khamenei would need Washington’s approval, stating Sunday that without it, whoever is picked “is not going to last long.” Israel’s military has also threatened to target any replacement.
Iranian officials have rejected foreign involvement in their leadership selection. Ghalibaf appeared to ridicule Trump’s demands, writing on X: “The fate of dear Iran… will be determined solely by the proud Iranian nation, not by [Jeffrey] Epstein’s gang.”
War Continues
As clerics selected the new leader, a dark haze hung over Tehran after Israel struck five oil facilities around the capital overnight. The war, now in its ninth day, has unleashed chaos throughout the Middle East, with Iranian missile and drone strikes continuing across the region.
Source: Al Jazeera
