Iran announces Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader

Iran announced, this Sunday (8), Mojtaba Khamenei, 56 years old, son of Ali Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader. The name was chosen by the Assembly of Experts.

Earlier this Sunday, Iranian media already reported that the choice had already been made, but the name of the chosen candidate had not yet been announced. Years ago, Mojtaba was seen as a possible successor to his father.

Iran’s Assembly of Experts is made up of around 88 high-ranking clerics, elected by popular vote, who are responsible for defining the country’s supreme leader.

After the announcement, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, one of the support bases of the local government, issued a statement, published by the Tasnim agency, in which it describes Mojtaba as a “comprehensive jurist, a young thinker and the most knowledgeable about political and social issues”. The Revolutionary Guard also declared its “respect, devotion and obedience” to the new ayatollah.

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A few days ago, US President Donald Trump said that the choice of Khamenei’s son would be “unacceptable”.

Since the start of the offensives, the US and Israel have sought to weaken the country by attacking its main leaders. Died on February 28, Ali Khamenei had been the country’s supreme leader since 1989.

According to Iranian authorities, more than 1,300 Iranians lost their lives during the attacks, of which 30% were children — one of the targets of US and Israeli aggression was a girls’ school, which resulted in the deaths of 171 children on the first day of the attacks.