Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been named Iran’s new supreme leader, state media report.
The 56-year-old younger Khamenei was announced as his
father’s successor on Sunday after a vote by the assembly of experts, a group
of clerics responsible for the appointment of Iran’s highest authority.
His father was killed last Saturday in US and Israeli
strikes on Iran.
In recent years, Khamenei, who was close to his late father, had been increasingly touted as a potential successor but he has never publicly discussed the issue.
Ahead of Khamenei’s succession announcement, Ayatollah
Hosseinali Eshkevari, a member of the assembly of experts, said the body had
voted and a candidate had been chosen.
“The name of Khamenei will continue,” Eshkevari said in a video published in
Iranian media.
“The vote has been cast and will be announced soon.”
Iran’s supreme leader has the final say in all matters of
state in the Islamic Republic, above the president.
Khamenei’s ascension to the role could create a dynasty
reminiscent of the Pahlavi monarchy before the 1979 Islamic revolution.
On Friday, Reza Pahlavi, exiled Iranian crown prince, said
he had accepted the “call” to be the country’s next leader.
Pahlavi is the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last
Shah of Iran and is widely regarded as the most prominent figure in the
opposition to the Iranian government.
Meanwhile, the White House has yet to publicly react to the
news of Khamenei’s appointment.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said the next Iranian
supreme leader “is not going to last long” if the Middle East country does not
get America’s approval first.
Trump has repeatedly said he must be consulted before the
country’s choice of leadership is made but Iran has rejected the plan.
In a statement, the assembly of experts said Khamenei was
chosen based on a “decisive vote”.
The clerical body urged Iranians, “especially the elites and intellectuals of the seminaries and
universities”, to maintain unity and pledge
support to Khamenei.
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