Iran already has a new supreme leader and previous speculation. Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ali Khameneihas been designated this Sunday as highest political and religious official of the Islamic Republic of Iranas announced by the country’s authorities. The decision has been made by the Assembly of Experts, the body in charge of electing the supreme leader, after the death of his father on February 28 during the bombings attributed to Israel.
The announcement was made publicly in Tehran’s Vanak Square and was broadcast by state television IRIB. With this appointment, Mojtaba Khamenei takes over the most powerful position in the Iranian political system, a position that controls the Armed Forces, foreign policy and much of the country’s institutional apparatus.
The succession after the death of Ali Khamenei
The election of Mojtaba Khamenei comes just days after the death of his father, Ali Khamenei, who was Iran’s supreme leader since 1989. For more than three decades, Khamenei Sr. exercised decisive influence over Iranian politics, consolidating a system in which the supreme leader has the final say on major state decisions.
After the death of the supreme leader, the Assembly of Experts, composed of clerics elected by popular votebegan the process to appoint his successor. This body has the constitutional power to appoint and supervise the supreme leader within the political system established after the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Who is Mojtaba Khamenei
Mojtaba Khamenei, born in 1969 in Mashhad, is one of Ali Khamenei’s best-known sons. Although never He has held highly visible formal political positionsfor years has been considered an influential figure within the Iranian power circle.
The cleric has been linked to conservative sectors of the regime and maintains close relations with members of the Revolutionary Guard, one of the most powerful institutions in the country.
Analysts and experts on Iranian politics had been pointing out his name for years as a possible successor to his father, something unusual in the Iranian system, where the supreme leadership It is not transmitted hereditarily, but by decision of the Assembly of Experts.
The most powerful position in Iran
The supreme leader is the central figure in the Iranian political system. Unlike the president of the country, who is elected in elections, The supreme leader has powers that cover practically all the strategic areas of the State.
Among its functions are:
- Appoint the heads of the Armed Forces and the Revolutionary Guard.
- Appoint those responsible for the judiciary and state media.
- Supervise foreign and security policy.
- Approve or veto key government decisions.
This model of power was established after the revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979, which established the current Islamic Republic.
