WASHINGTON, D.C. – Motjaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has been named as the new Supreme Leader. Ali Khamenei was killed during the US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Experts said it’s a political statement to the US, Israel and Iranians who thought there could be a shift in leadership.
About a week after US and Israeli strikes in Iran killed Ali Khamenei, Iranian state TV and other outlets shared video of a recent rally showing people pledge their allegiance to their new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
“The selection of the next Supreme Leader in Iran is interesting because it is the son of the previous Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei,” said Javed Ali, an associate professor of practice at the University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy and a former counterterrorism official. Ali said Motjaba’s combination of his personal background, his experience and his connections with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps contributed to his selection.
“He has some personal connections with senior commanders and probably has the same hardline philosophy that they do in terms of Iran’s national security orientation and he has the religious credentials as well that would allow him to operate as the Supreme Leader, not just the head of the armed forces,” said Ali.
The President told reporters he thinks Mojtaba as an “unacceptable” option and wants to be involved in picking Iran’s leadership.
“We don’t want to come back every 5 years or every 10 years and do this, so we want to pick a president that’s not going to be leading the country into war,” said President Trump.
Ali said Iran’s selection of their new Supreme Leader is a sign by the powers in Iran that the regime is still intact.
“I do think its a political statement to the US, to Israel and also to the Iranian population that if anyone thought there was going to be some reformer emerging out of a new group of clerics,” said Ali. “Well, I don’t think Motjaba Khamenei is in the reform camp. He’s going to be just as much of a hardliner as his father.”
