Despite reportedly stating in his will that he did not want his son to succeed him, Iran’s late Supreme LeaderAyatollah Ali Khameneiis now set to be followed by his sonMojtaba Khamenei, according to reports. The development comes after Khamenei was killed in airstrikes on February 28, triggering a leadership transition in Iran. A report by the New York Post claims that Khamenei had explicitly opposed dynastic succession in his will. However, the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly pushed Mojtaba into the role of Supreme Leader regardless.
According to experts, the elder Khamenei had serious reservations about his son's suitability for the role. "In Khamenei's will, he explicitly asked Mojtaba not to be named as successor," said Khosro Isfahani, research director at the opposition group National Union for Democracy, which has ties to Iranian intelligence networks.
Isfahani said the late leader believed Mojtaba lacked the experience and political stature needed to run the country. "Mojtaba is an impotent young cleric who has achieved nothing in terms of political life," Isfahani said.
"All these years, he has been nothing without his father's name," he added.
Under the Iranian constitution, it is the 88-member Assembly of Experts that is authorised to choose the country’s supreme leader. But according to Isfahani, Mojtaba's appointment did not follow the normal process. Instead, he said the IRGC pressured the Assembly while it was deliberating last week and ultimately forced the decision. Isfahani, citing sources inside Iran, said Mojtaba did not even secure a majority of votes from the council and the pressure from the IRGC reportedly led several clerics to boycott the session where the successor was formally announced.
"The Assembly of Experts that was supposed to pick Khamenei's replacement didn't vote for Mojtaba," Isfahani said. "There was a lot of pushback against him, but under pressure from the IRGC, he was named as the successor."
According to Isfahani, the powerful military force sees Mojtaba as someone they can easily control. "They see him as a puppet - a blank canvas that they can paint anything on," he said.
Meanwhile, Trump has said that Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei will not be able to "live in peace" and expressed strong disapproval over his appointment. The US president has insisted that America should have a say in selecting the next leader for Iran.
In an interview with Axios, Trump said that Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, succeeding his father as the new head of the Islamic republic is "unacceptable" and that he wants someone who would "bring harmony and peace to Iran".
The conflict in the Middle East has escalated significantly for over a week following the US and Israeli strikes that killed Khamenei and other key figures.
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