TEHRAN, March 9 (ANI): Following the appointment of a new Supreme Leader by Iran’s Assembly of Experts, preparations were underway in the capital on Monday as thousands of people gathered at Tehran’s Enqelab Square to pledge allegiance to Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was selected to lead the Islamic Republic, state broadcaster Press TV reported.
Visuals shared by Press TV showed the area filled with large crowds holding and waving Iranian national flags. Some participants were also seen carrying posters, portraits, and placards of the newly appointed leader in a show of support.
Earlier, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, who is considered more hardline than his father, was announced as the third Supreme Leader of Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
The announcement followed a decision by the country’s Assembly of Experts after days of deliberations and came late Sunday night local time, marking a significant moment in the political and religious leadership of the Islamic Republic.
The clerical body responsible for appointing the country’s supreme leader confirmed the decision in a formal statement, declaring, “By a decisive vote, the Assembly of Experts elected Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Born in 1969 in the city of Mashhad, Mojtaba Khamenei is the second son of the late Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who served as Iran’s supreme leader for nearly four decades.
Assuming leadership at a time of significant regional tension and political uncertainty, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei takes charge of the Islamic Republic with decades of clerical training and experience working closely with the country’s governing institutions.
According to a report by The Times of Israel, analysts say the selection of Mojtaba, a deeply hardline cleric whose wife, mother, and other family members were reportedly killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes, sends a strong message that Iran’s leadership has rejected the prospect of compromise to preserve the system and sees confrontation and endurance as the path forward.
Mojtaba has long opposed reformist groups advocating engagement with the West.
His appointment marks the beginning of a new chapter in the leadership of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, with supporters emphasizing continuity in the ideological and institutional legacy established by previous leaders.
The supreme leader holds the highest authority in Iran’s Shiite theocratic system, with final say over all matters of state. He also serves as commander-in-chief of the country’s military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. (ANI)
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