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Khamenei’s son chosen as the supreme leader of Iran

9 March 2026

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is Iran’s new supreme leader. He has replaced his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was killed in the opening phase of the United States and Israeli strikes against Iran.

The new Ayatollah is expected to maintain the hardline religious-political direction of his father, and is known as a conservative figure with close ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ideological arm of the country’s military. 

Khamenei's appointment was announced on Iranian state television, with the presenter reading a statement from the 88-member Assembly of Experts next to a picture of the new 56-year-old leader.

Khamenei "is appointed and introduced as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the decisive vote of the respected representatives of the Assembly of Experts", the statement said.

It said the clerical body "did not hesitate for a minute" in choosing a new leader despite "the brutal aggression of the criminal America and the evil Zionist regime.”

The Guards (Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) have pledged their support for the new leader, saying they were "ready for complete obedience and self-sacrifice in carrying out the divine commands.” Iran’s allies and proxies, like the Badr organisation in Iraq, have similarly shared positive sentiments of the new leader.

Source: commonspace.eu with Agence France-Presse

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