[🇮🇷] Iran's New Supreme Leader

[Saif]

Date of Event: Mar 9, 2026

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/world/middle-east/news/iran-names-khameneis-hardline-son-mojtaba-new-supreme-leader-4124276

Iran names Khamenei's hardline son Mojtaba as new supreme leader

Reuters, Dubai/Jerusalem

Mojtaba Khamenei. Photo: Collected
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• Leadership of Iranian armed forces pledge allegiance​
• US crude futures surge more than 20%​
• Trump insisted on US having say in selection of new leader​
• US military reports death of 7th American service member​
• Israel attacks major fuel storage facilities near Tehran​
• Iran says the attack poisoning civilians, calls it a war crime​

Iran on Monday named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old US-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel.

Mojtaba, a cleric with influence inside Iran's security forces and vast business networks under his father, had been viewed as a frontrunner in the lead-up to Sunday's vote by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics tasked with choosing Ali Khamenei's successor.

"By a decisive vote, the Assembly of Experts, appointed Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran," the Assembly said in a statement issued just after midnight Tehran time.

The position gives Mojtaba the final say in all matters of state in the Islamic Republic.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the announcement of Iran's new supreme leader.

Mojtaba’s appointment will likely draw the ire of US President Donald Trump, who said on Sunday that Washington should have a say in the selection. "If he doesn't get approval from us, he's not going to last long," he told ABC News. Israel, ahead of the announcement, threatened to target whoever was chosen.

Mojtaba's father, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was killed in one of the first strikes launched against Iran more than a week ago.

The US military on Sunday reported a seventh American has died from wounds sustained during Iran's initial counter-attack a week ago, a day after Trump presided over the return to the United States of the remains of the six others killed.

The U.S.-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran's UN ambassador.

Oil over $100 a barrel

The expanding war has severely impacted the oil trade and surging prices sparked a fall in share futures in Asia on Monday, amid fears of rising living costs.

US crude futures rose more than 20% in early trade on Monday, hitting their highest since July 2022, amid fears of tighter supply and prolonged disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent jumped 17% to $108.73 a barrel, having already soared 28% last week.

On Wall Street, S&P 500 futures ESc1 shed 1.6%, while Nasdaq futures NQc1 dived 1.7%.

Trump, in a social media post, said oil prices "will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over," and said the price hike was "a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace."

Defiance from Tehran

Iranian state media said the leadership of Iran's armed forces had pledged allegiance to Mojtaba Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement they are ready to follow the new supreme leader.

The Assembly of Experts met on Sunday to elect a new supreme leader despite threats that the body would be targeted, Iran's security chief, Ali Larijani, said on state TV after the announcement.

Mojtaba Khamenei could lead the country under the current sensitive conditions, Larijani said, calling for unity around the new leader.

The announcement came after Tehran signaled defiance, despite Trump's call for an "unconditional surrender." Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker, said earlier that Tehran was not seeking a ceasefire to the war and would punish aggressors.

Israel continued to target senior Iranian figures, including Abolqasem Babaian, the recently appointed head of the military office of the supreme leader, saying he was killed in a Saturday strike.

As fighting escalated on Sunday, day nine of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, thick black smoke hung over Tehran, residents said, after strikes on oil storage facilities had lit up the night sky with plumes of orange flame.

'Dangerous new phase'

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the large-scale attack marked a "dangerous new phase" of the conflict and amounted to a war crime.

"By targeting fuel depots, the aggressors are releasing hazardous materials and toxic substances into the air," he wrote on X.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters the depots were used to fuel Iran's war effort, including producing or storing propellant for ballistic missiles. "They are a legal military target," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would press on with the assault and strike Iran's rulers "without mercy".

"We have an organised plan with many surprises to destabilise the regime and enable change," he said in a video statement.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he was not seeking negotiations to end the conflict, which has driven up global energy prices, disrupted business and snarled air travel.

"At some point, I don't think there will be anybody left maybe to say, 'We surrender'," he said.​

 

[Saif]

Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader?

Mojtaba has never held a formal government role

www.thedailystar.net

Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader?

File photo of Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, visiting Hezbollah's office in Tehran, Iran on October 1, 2024. File photo: Reuters/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
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• Mojtaba Khamenei was seen as frontrunner to succeed his father​
• He has built close ties with elite Revolutionary Guards​
• Mojtaba has never held a formal government role​
• He has opposed reformers seeking to engage with West​

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son Mojtaba was chosen by Iran's Assembly of Experts to succeed his late father as supreme leader, in a sign that hardliners were still firmly in charge.

The clerical body named the 56-year-old mid-ranking cleric, who has survived the US-Israeli air war on Iran, as successor more than a week after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an air strike, Iranian media reported.

A member of the council, Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, said in a video on Sunday that a candidate had been selected based on Khamenei's guidance that Iran's top leader should be "hated by the enemy".

"Even the Great Satan [US] has mentioned his name," Heidari Alekasir said of the chosen successor, days after US President Donald Trump said Mojtaba was an "unacceptable" choice for him.

Father's 'gatekeeper'

Mojtaba amassed power under his father as a senior figure close to the security forces and the vast business empire they control. He has opposed reformers seeking to engage with the West as it tries to curb Iran's nuclear programme.

His close ties with the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) give him added leverage across Iran's political and security apparatus and he has built up influence behind the scenes as his father's "gatekeeper", sources familiar with the matter said.

"He has strong constituency and support within the IRGC, in particular amongst the younger radical generations," said Kasra Aarabi, head of researching the IRGC at United Against Nuclear Iran, a US-based policy organisation.

The supreme leader has the final say on matters of state, including foreign policy and Iran's nuclear programme. Western powers want to prevent Tehran developing nuclear arms. Iran says its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only.

Mojtaba could face opposition from Iranians who have shown they are ready to stage mass protests to press their demands for greater freedoms despite bloody crackdowns by the authorities.

He was born in 1969 in the holy Shi'ite city of Mashhad and grew up as his father was helping lead the opposition to the Shah. As a young man, he served in the Iran-Iraq war.

Mojtaba studied under religious conservatives in the seminaries of Qom, Iran's center of Shi'ite theological learning, and has the clerical rank of Hojjatoleslam.

He has never held a formal position in the Islamic Republic's government. He has appeared at loyalist rallies, but has rarely spoken in public.

His role has long been a source of controversy in Iran, with critics rejecting any hint of dynastic politics in a country that overthrew a US-backed monarch in 1979.

US sanctions

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Mojtaba in 2019, saying he represented the supreme leader in "an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position" aside from working in his father's office.

Its website said Khamenei had previously delegated some of his responsibilities to Mojtaba, who it said had worked closely with the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force and the Basij, a religious militia affiliated with the Guards, "to advance his father’s destabilising regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives".

Mojtaba was a particular target for criticism by protesters during unrest over the death of a young woman in police custody in 2022, after she was arrested for allegedly breaching the Islamic Republic's strict dress codes.

In 2024, a video was widely shared in which he announced the suspension of Islamic jurisprudence classes he was teaching at Qom, fuelling speculation about the reasons.

Mojtaba bears a strong resemblance to his father, and wears the black turban of a sayyed, indicating his family traces its lineage to the Prophet Mohammad.

Critics have said Mojtaba lacks the clerical credentials to be supreme leader - Hojjatoleslam is a notch below the rank of Ayatollah, the position held by his father and Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic.

But he has remained in the frame, particularly after another leading candidate for the role - the former President Ebrahim Raisi - died in a helicopter crash in 2024.

A US diplomatic cable written in 2007 and published by WikiLeaks cited three Iranian sources describing Mojtaba as an avenue to reach Khamenei.

Mojtaba was widely believed to have been behind the sudden rise of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was elected president in 2005.

Mojtaba backed Ahmadinejad in 2009 when he won a second term in a disputed election which resulted in anti-government protests that were violently suppressed by the Basij and other security forces.

Mehdi Karroubi, a moderate cleric who ran in the election, wrote a letter to Khamenei at the time objecting to what he alleged was Mojtaba's role in supporting Ahmadinejad. Khamenei rejected the accusation.

Mojtaba's wife, who was killed in last Saturday's airstrikes, was the daughter of a prominent hardliner, the former parliament speaker Gholamali Haddadadel.​

 

[Saif]

Iran clerics rally behind new leader, unsettling global markets

Iran's hardliners staged a show of force on Monday, taking to the streets to proclaim their loyalty to new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, whose rise appeared to dash hopes of a swift end to war in the Middle East causing havoc on global markets. The prospect that one of the most severe

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Iran clerics rally behind new leader, unsettling global markets

REUTERS
Published :
Mar 10, 2026 00:31
Updated :
Mar 10, 2026 00:32

Iran's hardliners staged a show of force on Monday, taking to the streets to proclaim their loyalty to new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, whose rise appeared to dash hopes of a swift end to war in the Middle East causing havoc on global markets.

The prospect that one of the most severe disruptions ever to hit global energy supplies could last longer than previously expected sent oil prices surging in record leaps and stock markets into a nosedive.

Khamenei, 56, a Shia cleric with a power base among the security forces and their vast business empire, has been declared unacceptable by US President Donald Trump, who has demanded Iran's unconditional surrender.

Iranian state media showed large crowds in several cities rallying behind the new leader, waving Iranian flags and holding portraits of his father Ali Khamenei, killed by strikes on the war's first day.

In Isfahan, state TV reported the sound of nearby explosions from apparent airstrikes as loyalists gathered in the historic Imam Square, chanting "God is the Greatest" below a stage with portraits of Ali and Mojtaba Khamenei. In Tehran, a eulogist could be heard singing: "Either death or Khamenei, our blood leads to paradise."

POLITICAL SYSTEM RALLIES BEHIND NEW LEADER

Politicians and institutions issued pledges of loyalty to the new supreme leader, whose wife, son and mother also died at the start of the US-Israeli air onslaught according to Iranian state media.

"We will obey the commander-in-chief until the last drop of our blood," a defence council statement said.

Iranians reached by telephone were divided, with supporters of the authorities hailing the choice as a declaration of defiance and opponents fearful it would dash their hopes for change.

"I am so happy that he is our new leader. It was a slap in the face to our enemies that thought the system will collapse with the killing of his father. Our late leader's path will continue," said university student Zahra Mirbagheri, 21, from Tehran.

Many Iranians had initially celebrated the elder Khamenei's death, weeks after his security forces killed thousands of anti-government protesters in the worst domestic unrest since the era of Iran's 1979 revolution. But there has since been little sign of anti-government activity, with activists fearful of taking to the streets while Iran is under attack.

"The (elite Revolutionary) Guards and the system are still powerful. They have tens of thousands of forces ready to fight to keep this regime in place. We, the people, have nothing," said Babak, 34, a businessman in the central city of Arak who asked to keep his family name confidential.

Israel says its war aim is to overthrow Iran's system of clerical rule. US officials mainly say Washington's aim is to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and nuclear programme, but Trump has said the war can end only with a compliant Iranian government.

Israel had said it would kill whoever succeeded the elder Khamenei unless Iran ended its hostile policies. Fox News quoted Trump as saying that he was "not happy" with the choice.

OIL SURGES PAST $100 A BARREL, THEN DIPS BACK

The war has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, leaving tankers unable to sail for more than a week and forcing producers to halt pumping as storage fills.

Sources said on Monday that Saudi Arabia had curbed production at two oil fields, becoming the latest Gulf producer to curb supply after Iraq and Kuwait.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up nearly 7 percent at $99.25 per barrel at 1610 GMT, having earlier shot as high as $119.50 in what would have been the biggest one-day rise on record. Since the war started, Brent has surged by as much as 65 percent.

The prospect of a prolonged energy crisis - reviving memories of the Middle East oil shock of the 1970s - sent global share markets into a tailspin. Bond yields surged as investors bet that central banks would have to cancel rate cuts or impose hikes to fight inflation.

The price of gasoline has particular political resonance in the United States, where Trump's Republicans hope to keep control of Congress in midterm elections in November.

The president is expected to review as early as Monday a set of options to tame domestic oil prices, including a possible release of crude oil from strategic reserves or restricting US exports, according to two people familiar with the matter.

"Short-term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, ‌is a ⁠very small price to pay for USA, and World, Safety and Peace," Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday night. "ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!"

OIL REFINERY HIT

Tehran was choked in black smoke after an oil refinery was hit, an escalation in strikes on Iran's domestic energy supplies. World Health Organization chief Tedros Ghebreyesus warned of the dangers from such attacks.

"Damage to petroleum facilities in Iran risks contaminating food, water and air – hazards that can have severe health impacts especially on children, older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions," he wrote on X.

Turkey said on Monday NATO alliance air defences had shot down a ballistic missile that was fired from Iran and entered Turkish airspace, the second such incident of the war. Iran did not immediately comment on the report.

Turkey, Iran's neighbour with NATO's second-largest army, had warned Tehran on Saturday against attacking again, but it has not suggested it wants to formally call on bloc members for further protection.

Israel's military said it had launched new attacks in central Iran and struck the Lebanese capital Beirut, where Israel has extended its campaign after the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah fired across the border.

US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran's UN ambassador. Lebanon has reported scores of people killed there.

In Israel, ambulance workers said one man died from shrapnel wounds at a construction site near Tel Aviv's international airport, raising to 11 the death toll from Iranian strikes.​