Iran Announces Mojtaba Khamenei as New Supreme Leader

Iran’s Assembly of Experts announced Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader on Sunday.

In a lengthy statement, the assembly said that “after careful and extensive studies… in today’s extraordinary session, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei (may Allah protect him) 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.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards pledged allegiance to the country’s new supreme leader, after he was appointed his father’s successor by the Assembly of Experts.

“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps… is ready for complete obedience and self-sacrifice in carrying out the divine commands of the Guardian Jurist of the time, His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei”, the Guards said in a statement.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday welcomed Iran’s ruling clerics appointing their slain leader’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader, calling it a major blow for the Islamic Republic’s enemies as it fights a war with the United States and Israel. (AFP)