The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated this Monday, 9th, that he is “not happy” with the choice of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, as the new supreme leader of Iran.
Questioned by the newspaper New York Post about his plans regarding Mojtaba, Trump responded: “I’m not going to tell you. I’m not happy with him.” The Republican, however, did not repeat the threat of killing any successor who assumed power without his participation.
He also stated that the US is still “far away” from ordering troops to Iran to protect underground uranium enrichment facilities in Isfahan. “We have not made any decision on this. We are far from reaching an agreement,” he said.
The Guardian Assembly of Iran announced this Sunday, 8, Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader. He will succeed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died on February 28 at the start of the war waged by Americans and Israelis against the Persian country. A crowd gathered in Tehran’s Enghelab Square to celebrate Mojtaba’s announcement.
Mojtaba is Ali Khamenei’s second eldest son. Like his father, he is an ayatollah, a high-ranking cleric within Shiite Islam. In the past, he served in the Iranian army during the Iran-Iraq War, which took place between 1980 and 1988. He also allegedly led the Basij paramilitary militia in repressing protests that took place in the country in 2009.
Still on Sunday, the 8th, Trump said that whoever was chosen to lead Iran “will not last long” if he does not receive his prior approval. “If it doesn’t have our approval, it won’t last long,” Trump told ABC News. “We want to make sure we don’t have to go back every 10 years when there isn’t a president like me who does it.”
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Last week, the president insisted that he should participate in the choice. He even considered Ali Khamenei’s son an “unacceptable” candidate.
