Few people wanted Mojtaba Khamenei to become Iran's next supreme leader, not US President Donald Trump, and not even his own father. The late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in airstrikes on February 28th, had made clear in his will that he did not want his son to succeed him, according to a report by the New York Post . However, the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ultimately pushed Mojtaba into the position anyway. According to experts, the elder Khamenei had serious reservations about his son's suitability for the role. "In Khamenei's will, he explicitly asked Mojtaba not to be named as successor," said Khosro Isfahani, research director at the opposition group National Union for Democracy, which has ties to Iranian intelligence networks. Read | When A Young Mojtaba Khamenei Was Witness To Father's Assault Isfahani said the late leader believed Mojtaba lacked the experience and political stature needed to run the country. ...
Few people wanted Mojtaba Khamenei to become Iran's next supreme leader, not US President Donald Trump, and not even his own father.
The late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in airstrikes on February 28th, had made clear in his will that he did not want his son to succeed him, according to a report by the New York Post. However, the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ultimately pushed Mojtaba into the position anyway.
According to experts, the elder Khamenei had serious reservations about his son's suitability for the role.
"In Khamenei's will, he explicitly asked Mojtaba not to be named as successor," said Khosro Isfahani, research director at the opposition group National Union for Democracy, which has ties to Iranian intelligence networks.
Read | When A Young Mojtaba Khamenei Was Witness To Father's Assault
Isfahani said the late leader believed Mojtaba lacked the experience and political stature needed to run the country.
"Mojtaba is an impotent young cleric who has achieved nothing in terms of political life," Isfahani said.
"All these years, he has been nothing without his father's name," he added.
Iran's leadership succession is typically determined by the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body responsible for selecting the supreme leader. But according to Isfahani, Mojtaba's appointment did not follow the normal process.
Instead, he said the IRGC pressured the Assembly while it was deliberating last week and ultimately forced the decision.
Read | Why US Sanctioned Iran's New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei In 2019
Isfahani, citing sources inside Iran, said Mojtaba did not even secure a majority of votes from the council. The pressure from the IRGC reportedly led several clerics to boycott the session where the successor was formally announced.
"The Assembly of Experts that was supposed to pick the replacement of Khamenei didn't vote for Mojtaba," Isfahani said.
"There was a lot of pushback against him, but under pressure from the IRGC, he was named as the successor."
According to Isfahani, the powerful military force sees Mojtaba as someone they can easily control.
"They see him as a puppet - a blank canvas that they can paint anything on," he said.
Trump On Mojtaba Khamenei
Trump said that Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei will not be able to "live in peace". He has expressed strong disapproval after Iran elected the second son of Ali Khamenei as the new leader.
Prior to Mojtaba Khamenei's appointment, Trump insisted that the US should have a say in selecting the next leader for Iran, similar to past US involvement in Venezuela.
In an interview with Axios, Trump said that Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, succeeding his father as the new head of the Islamic republic is "unacceptable" and that he wants someone who would "bring harmony and peace to Iran".
Read | "I Don't Believe He Can Live In Peace": Trump's Warning For Mojtaba Khamenei
Trump said that making someone a leader who would continue Khamenei's policies would force the US to be back to war "in five years".
On Sunday, Trump told ABC News, "He's going to have to get approval from us. If he doesn't get approval from us, he's not going to last long."
Mojtaba, 56, had never held an official government position before his appointment. Much of his influence came from operating behind the scenes within his father's inner circle as the Islamic Republic tightened its conservative grip on power.
Leaked US diplomatic cables from the 2000s described him as "the power behind the robes". Around the same time, he was accused of helping manipulate Iran's presidential elections to ensure victories for regime loyalists.
Meanwhile, Israel's military has previously warned that any Iranian leader who continues Tehran's campaign of terrorism would be considered an "unequivocal target for elimination".
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