What international media had to say about the appointment of Iran’s new supreme leader
Iran’s Assembly of Experts on Sunday named Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader after the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in strikes by the US and Israel on Iran.
Mojtaba has been termed as a discreet figure who offers continuity of his father’s leadership. His appointment has drawn contrasting reactions from Washington and Jerusalem, reflecting differing strategies in responding to Iran’s evolving leadership.
Here is how different international media outlets covered the news:
Fox News — Iran crowns ‘nepo baby’ as supreme leader: Mojtaba Khamenei’s rise questioned by critics
The mullahs spent 45 years denouncing hereditary dynasties and they just crowned a king. Khamenei junior. The boss’ son. He’s 56, no resume except his last name.
Al Jazeera — Iran names Mojtaba Khamenei as new supreme leader after father’s killing
Mojtaba Khamenei has never run for office or been subjected to a public vote, but has long been a highly influential figure in the inner circle of the supreme leader, cultivating deep ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In recent years, Khamenei had increasingly been touted as a potential replacement for his father, who had been in power since 1989. His selection could be a sign that more hardline factions in Iran’s establishment retain power, and could indicate that the government has little desire to agree to a deal or negotiations in the short term as the war enters its second week.
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, who has reported extensively on Iranian affairs, described Khamenei as his “father’s gatekeeper”.
“He adopts the positions of his father with respect to the United States, with respect to Israel. So we are expecting a confrontational leader. We’re not expecting any moderation,” he said.
Reuters — Iran’s new leader, still silent, was elevated by the Revolutionary Guards
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards forced through the choice of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader, seeing him as a more pliant version of his father who would back their hardline policies, bludgeoning aside the concerns of pragmatists, senior Iranian sources said.
Already very powerful, the Guards have gained yet greater sway since the war began and quickly overcame the misgivings of senior political and clerical figures whose opposition to the choice delayed the announcement by hours, the sources said.
Khamenei’s selection, engineered by the Guards, may add up to a more aggressive stance abroad and sterner internal repression, said the three senior Iranian sources, a reformist former official and another insider.
Two of them said they feared the Guards’ domination of the system would further transform the Islamic Republic into a military state with only a thin veneer of religious legitimacy,
NBC News — Mojtaba Khamenei, son of ayatollah killed in US-Israeli strikes, named Iran’s new supreme leader, state media reports
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, the second son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is widely viewed as a hard-line figure with close ties to the powerful Revolutionary Guard. Israel has already described him as a potential target, while President Donald Trump had called him “unacceptable”.
The younger Khamenei had been considered a potential leader prior to the American-Israeli attack that killed his father, though the idea was not universally popular given the 1979 toppling of the US-backed hereditary monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
BBC — Iranians deeply divided over Mojtaba Khamenei’s rise to power
Some pro-establishment crowds have taken to the streets to celebrate the appointment of a hardliner close to the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
But other Iranians have told the BBC that they believe it will not bring about change.
For years, there have been rumours that Mojtaba Khamenei held considerable influence behind the scenes in Iran.
Many expect him to continue his father’s hardline policies.
CNN — Iran names slain supreme leader’s son as successor, in a defiant message to Trump
The 88-member Assembly of Experts did what many Iranians had hoped it would never do: turn the Islamic Republic into a dynasty.
The appointment of the very figure US President Donald Trump had branded “unacceptable” appeared to be a deliberate act of defiance – a signal that Iran’s leadership has no intention of folding to American pressure. Instead, the regime appears to be doubling down on the slain supreme leader’s hardline course.
Euro News — Ayatollah Khamenei’s son Mojtaba elected as the supreme leader of Iran
The younger Khamenei had long been considered a contender, even before an Israeli strike killed his father at the start of the war, and despite never being elected or appointed to a government position.
Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard answers to the supreme leader, and now Khamenei will have the central say in war strategy.
The Washington Post — Khamenei’s son chosen as Iran’s supreme leader, extending hard-line rule
Iran’s selection of Mojtaba Khamenei — a powerful regime insider deeply intertwined with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — to succeed his father as supreme leader cements hard-line theocratic rule in the country and sends a strong message of defiance against President Donald Trump as Iran remains locked in a conflict with the United States and Israel.
Header image: Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of late Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran on October 13, 2024. — Reuters/File