Politics News

Iran names Mojtaba Khamenei supreme leader, the first to inherit the post from a parent

Iran's Assembly of Experts named Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader, succeeding his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US-Israeli strikes that began on February 28. The Jakarta Post, carrying AFP, said the body of 88 clerics chose him by a “decisive vote” in an extraordinary session, in a statement issued just after midnight Tehran time. The post gives him the final say in all matters of state.

Al-Monitor, carrying Reuters, described him as a “mid-ranking cleric with close ties to the powerful Revolutionary Guards,” long seen by parts of the establishment as a likely successor, although Iran's ruling ideology opposes hereditary succession.

“If he doesn't get approval from us, he's not going to last long.” — Donald Trump, to ABC News, via AFP

AFP reported that Israel had threatened to target whoever was chosen, that a seventh American had died of wounds from Iran's first counter-attack, and that Iran's UN ambassador said the attacks had killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians.

Egyptian Streets said Mojtaba, 56, is the third supreme leader since 1979 and the first to inherit the post from a parent. He has never held public office, holds the clerical rank of hojatoleslam and was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2019. Analysts expect him to be more hardline than his father.

How each outlet framed it

• The Jakarta Post (AFP) — the succession as a wartime move, with Washington claiming a say and Israel issuing threats.
• Al-Monitor (Reuters) — a brief profile: a Guards-backed cleric and the tension with Iran's ideology.
• Egyptian Streets — “dynastic succession” and the cost for Egypt, from halted Israeli gas to a drop in Suez Canal traffic.

Where the numbers differ: The outlets disagree on the date. AFP dated the announcement to Sunday, March 8, and Al-Monitor's report is dated March 8, while Egyptian Streets said state media carried it early on Monday, March 9.