Succession - Iran chooses Mojtaba Khamenei

[Twiglets1]

Iran has picked Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, as the country’s new Supreme Leader. He was elected by clerics despite lacking the senior religious credentials typically required.

His appointment signals a willingness to continue the war with the US and is likely to anger Donald Trump.

Khamenei, the second son of the late Ali Khamenei, is a shadowy, hardline conservative figure with deep links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

He had long been considered a contender, despite never being elected or appointed to a government position. However, the BBC note that his selection could still prove controversial:

The Islamic Republic was founded in 1979 after the monarchy was overthrown, and its ideology is based on the principle that the supreme leader should be chosen for his religious standing and proven leadership, not through hereditary succession.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78xxg05w0zo

Oh I thought they were joking

I’m not sure to be honest, maybe I misunderstood 🙈 Nothing surprises me on here anymore!
Anyway, several news outlets have now reported that the new Ayatollah is in a coma, but at the same time he’s apparently released a statement?

I’m kidding 😉

Ha, that makes more sense 😉

A lot of speculation that he is either dead or very seriously injured. You would have thought that somebody would have realised that getting oil through those straits would be a problem Apparently not.

Another good reason to just stop oil I suppose, that crowd should be gleeful. Though I was hoping it would be phased in more gradually.

I can't believe they used a cardboard cut out !
That's farcical !

The plot thickens...

Donald Trump was briefed recently on American intelligence showing that Iran’s late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was wary about his son Mojtaba Khamenei replacing him as ruler in the event of his death, according to a Sunday report.

Sources familiar with the matter told CBS News that the elder Khamenei’s fears stemmed from the perception that Mojtaba, who was recently named as his father’s successor, was “not very bright, and was viewed as unqualified to be leader,” as well as from an awareness that Mojtaba had “issues in his personal life.”

In a possible reference to the intelligence he was allegedly briefed on, Trump told Fox News in an interview on Friday night that Khamenei was “not somebody that the father even wanted.”

According to CBS, Trump has told people close to him that he is not putting too much weight on the intelligence briefing, as he already considered Iran to be “essentially leaderless,” and believes Mojtaba, like his father, may already be dead.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-said-briefed-on-us-intel-showing-ali-khamenei-thought-his-son-unfit-to-lead/?utm_campaign=most_popular&utm_source=website&utm_medium=article_end&utm_content=6

From the same source:

On Friday, the US announced that it was offering a reward of up to $10 million for information about Khamenei, as well as several other senior Iranian military and intelligence officials.

Iran has fiercely denied any suggestion that all may not be well with the new supreme leader, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi telling the pan-Arab Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news outlet on Sunday that he “is in excellent health” and “in control of the situation, and present at his post.”

These assurances have not convinced everyone.

On Sunday, citing “a senior source close to the new Iranian leader,” Kuwait’s Al-Jarida news outlet reported that Khamenei had been smuggled out of Iran in a secretive Russian operation on Thursday to receive medical treatment in Moscow for injuries sustained in the same airstrikes that killed his father and wife on the first day of the ongoing US-Israeli offensive.

The report alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin had proposed bringing Khamenei to Russia for treatment to ensure that he would be able to recover properly, without being targeted by Israeli and American airstrikes.

He was accompanied to Russia by a team of Iranian doctors, the report said.

The newspaper further cited a source close to Khamenei as saying that not only did the new supreme leader not write the statement that was delivered by a television presenter last week, but that he did not even see it before it was read out.

The source suggested that it may have been written by Iran’s national security chief, Ali Larijani, as it was nearly identical to several statements he has put out in recent days.

I don't know if it's just me but when I read about him being "in excellent health" I always hear it in the voice of Raymond Babbitt referring to himself as "an excellent driver" in Rain Man.

Do we know if it was definitely his voice we heard last week? It could have been pre-recorded though I guess.

He's certainly not in any state to even do a filmed piece to camera. That's if he's even alive.

I've read it being suggested that the message was pre recorded.

Was it even supposed to be his voice? I read that his first address released on March 12th was written text read aloud by a news presenter?
Or are we talking about a different statement?

They probably have a Death of Stalin thing going on now.

Could be ...

Iran's new supreme leader gravely wounded and in hiding, report reveals

The condition of Iran's new supreme leader is shrouded in mystery: Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen or heard in public since he was appointed, with reports saying he's been injured in US-Israeli attacks at the start of the war.
New details on his situation have been obtained by the New York Times, which cites senior Iranian officials.

Here's what we've learned from the report:

Khamenei was gravely wounded: His leg was operated on three times and he will receive a prosthetic. He had surgery on one hand, which is now slowly regaining function. His face and lips have been burnt severely, and he still has difficulties speaking. He will eventually need plastic surgery. He is, however, mentally sharp, the sources said.

Khamenei wants to avoid sounding weak, which is why he hasn't recorded audio or video messages yet, with all previous statements being delivered in writing.

He is in hiding and access is tightly restricted, the report says. Senior military and government officials don't visit him to avoid being traced by Israel. Khamenei communicates with other leaders via handwritten messages in sealed envelopes, relayed via human chains of trusted couriers.

Khamenei is mostly surrounded by doctors and medical staff, who are treating his injuries. The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon by training, is involved in his care, and so is the health minister.

Khamenei has delegated decision-making to Iranian generals for now due to concerns for his safety, his injuries and the complex logistics of reaching him. This feeds concerns that Khamenei, who took over from his cleric father, is under the spell of the hardline Revolutionary Guard force, with whom he served.

news.sky.com/story/iran-war-latest-trump-blockade-strait-of-hormuz-lebanon-13509565