Meet Mojtaba Khamenei: Ruthless ideologue, supreme leader's son, and conveniently, a very wealthy Man. Religion has always been good for business.
Mojtaba Khamenei © Mena Today
Iran on Sunday indicated it had chosen Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son Mojtaba as his successor.
"The name of Khamenei will continue," said Ayatollah Hosseinali Eshkevari, a member of the clerical council charged with electing a new leader, in a video published in Iranian media.
"The vote has been cast and will be announced soon," Eshkevari said, without providing further details.
The council's secretary, Hosseini Bushehri, would announce the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - who was killed earlier in the conflict - Ahmad Alamolhoda, another cleric, told state media.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday Washington should have a say in the selection. "If he doesn't get approval from us he's not going to last long," he told ABC News.
Israel said it continued to target senior Iranian figures, including Abolqasem Babaian, the recently appointed head of the military office of the supreme leader, killed in a Saturday strike.
Mojtaba Khamenei has long exercised influence behind the scenes through close ties with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and networks linked to the leadership’s economic interests.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 45-day extension of a ceasefire that has tamped down the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as two days of talks facilitated by Washington concluded on Friday with an agreement to hold further meetings in the coming weeks.
U.S. President Donald Trump said his patience with Iran was running out and that Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed that Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but China gave no indication it would weigh in.
The United Arab Emirates is moving decisively to reduce its vulnerability to Iran's control of the Strait of Hormuz, with Abu Dhabi ordering the acceleration of a new pipeline project that would allow hydrocarbon exports to bypass the strategic - and currently disrupted - waterway.
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