Ayatollah Mojataba Khamenei has been aappointed Supreme Leader of Iran succeeding his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was killed in Israeli-US airstrike on February 28.
”The Assembly of Experts of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced Ayatollah Seyyed Mojataba Khamenei as the third Leader of the Islamic Revolution early on Monday,” Iran’s Mehr News Agency (MNA) reported.
In a statement, the Assembly of Experts said that immediately after the ”martyrdom” of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and despite wartime conditions, enemy threats, and a bombing of the Assembly’s offices, it did not hesitate in selecting a new leader.
In line with its constitutional and internal duties, the Assembly swiftly took the necessary steps to convene an extraordinary session and appoint the successor, the statement added.
Mojtaba Khamenei, born on September 8, 1969, in Mashhad, is the second son of Ali Khamenei. An 88-member Assembly of Experts named him the Islamic Republic’s new Supreme Leader just over a week into war with the US and Israel.
Following Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s ”assassination,” a three-member temporary leadership council—including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei—led the country until a new leader was chosen.
Iranian Army, officials and people pledged allegiance to Mojataba Khamenei, MNA said.
In statements early Monday, officials and organizations in Iran declared their loyalty to the newly-selected leader.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while pledging allegiance to Mojataba Khamenei, in a statement affirmed that it would stand against the enemies conspiracies and spare no effort in defending the country.
Mojataba, the 56-year old Shiite cleric, is one of the most influential figures in Iran’s power corridors and is considered close with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Iran’s Assembly of Experts urged the Iranian people to stand behind the newly chosen leader and “keep unity.”
US President Donald Trump had warned that Khamenei’s son would not be “unacceptable” to him. Trump had said Iran’s new leader was bound not to “last long” if the appointment is not made according his (Trump’s) wishes.
