CAIRO/WASHINGTON – Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, was selected as Iran’s new supreme leader, Iran’s Assembly of Experts announced on Sunday.
In a statement, the assembly confirmed Mojtaba Khamenei’s election as the country’s third supreme leader, citing “the decisive vote of the respected representatives” of the assembly.
“In today’s extraordinary session, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei … is appointed and introduced as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the statement said.
Following the announcement, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) immediately pledged allegiance to the new supreme leader, voicing its readiness to follow his instructions.
Mojtaba Khamenei, born in 1969, is the son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the joint US-Israeli strikes.
Mojtaba has been widely speculated as the new supreme leader even before the announcement. Israel and the United States have both issued threats to Iran in this regard.
On Wednesday, Israel threatened that whoever Iran chooses as its new supreme leader would be “a target for elimination.”
US President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday that Iran’s new supreme leader “is not going to last long” without his approval.
“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump said in an interview with ABC News. “If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long.”
“I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again or worse let them have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
On Thursday, Trump told US news website Axios that it is “unacceptable” for Mojtaba Khamenei to become Iran’s new leader, noting that Trump himself must be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader.
Trump also warned that if Iran selects a new leader who “continues Khamenei’s policies,” the United States will be forced to return to war “within five years.”
The United States and Israel launched surprise airstrikes on Tehran and other Iranian cities on Feb 28, killing Ali Khamenei, along with some of the leader’s family members, Iran’s senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded through several waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US assets across the Middle East.
Tehran condemns strikes against oil depots
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Sunday strongly condemned the US-Israeli strikes on Iranian fuel depots, calling them “war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
He made the remarks on social media platform X after US-Israeli strikes hit oil facilities in Tehran and neighboring Alborz province on Saturday night, setting them on fire.
“The US-Israeli criminal war against the Iranian nation has entered a dangerous new phase with deliberate strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure. These attacks on fuel storage facilities amount to nothing less than intentional chemical warfare against Iranian citizens,” Baghaei said.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society warned on Sunday that toxic compounds from the burning oil depots could cause dangerous acid rain if precipitation occurs, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that six people were killed and 21 others injured in the US-Israeli attack on one of the oil storage facilities in Alborz province.
Israel targeted an oil depot in western Tehran during the 12-day war with Iran in June last year.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters on Sunday urged Muslim states in the region to prevent US and Israeli attacks on Iranian fuel and energy facilities, warning that Tehran would respond with similar actions if strikes continue.
Spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari made the remarks after several fuel storage facilities in Tehran and neighboring Alborz province were hit in US and Israeli strikes on Saturday night, causing temporary fuel supply disruptions and raising health and environmental concerns, the Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.
He said Muslim states in the region should warn Washington and Jerusalem against taking such “cowardly and inhumane actions” to prevent the spread of conflict.
“Otherwise, similar actions will be taken in the region. If you can tolerate oil prices above $200 per barrel, keep playing this game,” Zolfaghari added.
New missile attack
The Israeli military said early Monday that Iran launched a new missile attack, activating the country’s air defense systems in response.
Sirens warning of incoming missiles sounded in central and northern Israel.
Israeli state-owned Kan TV news reported that the barrage included several missiles, some of them falling in open areas. Rescue services reported no immediate injuries.
Iran’s IRGC said on Sunday it launched the 28th wave of its attacks against targets in the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Beersheba, as well as the Al-Azraq airbase in Jordan, using a new generation of its missiles.
In a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said the missiles used in the attacks belong to its Aerospace Division, adding the infrastructure at the Al-Azraq airbase, which is “the biggest and most active base of the US aggressive fighter jets,” was targeted several times.
It noted that the military targets in Tel Aviv and Beersheba were hit by the Kheibar missiles equipped with ultra-heavy warheads.
In another statement earlier in the day, the IRGC said its Ground Force hit with its precision-guided missiles the positions of “separatist groups” near the country’s northwestern border as well as a US troops’ base in Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.
US Central Command said on Sunday that the seventh US service member has been killed amid the strikes against Iran.
“Last night, a US service member passed away from injuries,” the command said in a post on X. “The service member was seriously wounded at the scene of an attack on US troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on March 1.”
“This is the seventh service member killed in action during Operation Epic Fury. Major combat operations continue,” said the command.