Tehran: Iran’s Assembly of Experts elected Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba as the next Supreme Leader under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards, informed sources told Iran International.
Israeli officials were expecting Mojtaba to step into his father’s shoes, according to Israeli outlet Ynetnews.
This is also only the second instance in the Islamic Republic’s 47-year history that the Assembly of Experts has chosen a Supreme Leader. Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran from 1989, was the Middle East’s longest-serving head of state.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, widely known as the Revolutionary Guards, is reported to have strongly backed Mojtaba’s elevation.
Ali Khamenei was killed in a precision strike carried out by the United States and Israel on February 28, followed by which tensions have sharply escalated across the Gulf. Iran has since launched a series of missile and drone attacks in retaliation against US military facilities and allied bases throughout the region, and its forces have struck targets in countries including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
