The son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will become Iran’s next supreme leader, Iranian state media announced on Monday, taking over after his father was killed in an attack by the US and Israel.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is the second son of the late supreme leader and has long been considered a potential successor due to his close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij paramilitary group.
Israel immediately condemned his nomination and issued a veiled threat, telling him to “look at” what had happened to his colleagues, many of whom have been killed since the US and Israeli war on Tehran began on February 28.
He has never held government office and lacks the senior religious credentials typically expected of the role. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said Mr Khamenei would continue the policies of his father.
“This nomination shows that it's more of the same,” Mr Danon told CNN. Mr Khamenei “will continue with the same radical ideas of his late father, promoting the nuclear capabilities, the ballistic missiles, the proxies", the envoy added.
“So for us, it means that we continue with the cause of the operation, and I would advise him to look at what happened to his colleagues who tried to threaten the US and Israel.”
Mr Khamenei would become only the third person to lead Iran since the 1979 revolution and the first hereditary successor since the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy that year.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said the naming of a new supreme leader is the manifestation of Iran's will to strengthen national unity. The position gives Mr Khamenei the final say in all matters of state in Iran.
Iran’s Assembly of Experts elected the country’s next supreme leader in a “decisive vote”, according to the Fars news agency. The vote took place hours before the result was made public.
Mr Khamenei's appointment could prompt an angry reaction from US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly said that the US should have a role in picking Iran's next leader.
“If he doesn't get approval from us, he's not going to last long,” he told ABC News on Sunday. Israel, ahead of the announcement, threatened to attack whoever was chosen.
The US State Department, meanwhile, has ordered non-emergency US government employees and government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia.
“We continuously assess the security environment and, based on our latest review, we determined it prudent to reduce our footprint to essential personnel,” a State Department official told The National.
The US embassy in Riyadh has been the target of several Iranian attacks since the war began. Saudi Arabia has not had a US ambassador since Mr Trump returned to office last year.
US crude futures jumped more than 20 per cent in early trading on Monday, hitting their highest since July 2022, amid fears of tighter supply and prolonged disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent jumped 17 per cent, having already soared 28 per cent last week.
On Truth Social, Mr Trump said oil prices “will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over,” and said the price rise was “a very small price to pay”.
Another member of the US military has died, bringing the number of American troops killed during Operation Epic Fury to seven.
In a statement, US Central Comand said the service member died from injuries received on March 1, the day after the US and Israel began bombing Iran.
“Major combat operations continue,” Centcom said. “The identity of the fallen warrior will be withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notification.”
