From one Khamenei to another. Iran has chosen a new Supreme Leader: the successor to Ali Khamenei is Mojtaba, the second of the ayatollah’s six sons. The appointment was announced officially on the evening of Sunday, March 8, after a vote earlier that morning by the Assembly of Experts.
The 56-year-old Mojtaba does not hold a formal government position but has strong ties to the Revolutionary Guards, a factor seen as decisive. “The name Khamenei will continue,” said Hosseinali Eshkevari, a member of the Assembly of Experts, before the official announcement.
Tasnim news agency reported an “overwhelming majority of votes” for the 56-year-old. In a statement, the Assembly of Experts, composed of 88 members, said that “Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei (may Allah protect him) has been chosen as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The statement added that the Assembly “did not hesitate for a minute” in selecting the new leader, despite what it described as “the brutal aggression of criminal America and the evil Zionist regime.”
The Revolutionary Guards declared their “loyalty” to the new Supreme Leader and said they are “ready for total obedience.” The Guards said they are prepared “to preserve the values of the Islamic Revolution and safeguard the precious legacy of the Imams of the Revolution, Imam Khomeini and Imam Khamenei.”
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned him in 2019, during Donald Trump’s first term, asserting that he acted as a de facto supreme leader “despite not having been elected or appointed to a government position other than a role in his father’s office.” The Treasury said Ali Khamenei had “delegated part of his leadership responsibilities” to his son, who “worked closely” with the Revolutionary Guards “to advance his father’s ambitions of regional destabilization and his goals of domestic repression,” as justification for the sanctions.
Khamenei Jr is already targeted
The Israeli armed forces said they will target Ali Khamenei’s successor and anyone involved in the nomination process. “After the elimination of the tyrant Khamenei, the Iranian terrorist regime is trying to reorganize and choose a new Supreme Leader,” the defense forces said. “We want to make clear that the long arm of the State of Israel will continue to pursue the successor and anyone who tries to appoint him.” The army also issued a direct warning to those who participated in the meeting to select the new leader: “We will not hesitate to strike you too. Consider yourselves warned.”
Trump’s verdict
Shortly afterwards came Trump’s “verdict,” reaffirming his position in response to questions from ABC News: the heir to Khamenei “will not last long” if he does not obtain the White House’s approval, the U.S. president said, adding that he is willing to work with any “surviving” elements of the current regime.
“He will have to get our approval. If he doesn’t, he won’t last long,” the president said, who a few days earlier had called Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment “unacceptable.” “We want to make sure we don’t have to come back here every ten years, when perhaps you don’t have a president like me who is willing to do it,” he added. “I don’t want that in five years we have to do the same thing again, or worse, let them have a nuclear weapon. Now Iran is a paper tiger; a week ago it wasn’t like this. They were about to attack the entire Middle East to take it all.” Asked whether there are figures within Tehran’s elite who would gain American approval, he replied, “There are numerous people who would be suitable.”
The issue highlights the deep divide between Washington and Tehran. “It is up to the Iranian people to elect the new leader. They have already elected the Assembly of Experts and the Assembly of Experts will do its work,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, rejecting any prospect of dialogue: “We will not allow anyone to interfere.”