Mojtaba Khamenei is elected as Iranian Supreme Leader as Iran says it is ‘not seeking a

Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei has been elected as the new Supreme Leader of Iran, state media has confirmed.

It comes just eight days after his father was blown up at his desk in Israeli airstrikes.

Mojtaba, 56, Khamenei’s second oldest son, has strong links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and was chosen by Iran’s Assembly of Experts ‘under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards’, according to Iranian opposition outlet Iran International.

Mojtaba is not a high-ranking cleric, has never held office and does not have an official role in the regime.

But he served in the Iranian armed forces during the Iran-Iraq war and is believed to wield considerable influence behind the scenes. He has been touted as a possible successor to his father for years.

However, he was not included in a list of three senior clerics Ali Khamenei reportedly identified last year.

And his father is said to have indicated opposition to his candidacy because it would resemble the hereditary rule enacted by the US-backed Shah monarchy before it was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

The head of Iran’s Military Office Abu al-Qassem Baba’iyan has been killed in the latest wave of attacks, the IDF has claimed on X.

The military official was also the Chief of Staff of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.

He is the latest major figure in the regime to be killed in Israeli strikes.

An IDF statement today said: ‘Baba’iyan was responsible for coordinating between the Iranian terror regime’s various force employment organizations to execute operations and emergency operations.’

Iran has responded to the US bombardment by launching a wave of missiles over the UAE.

If you’re just joining us, here are the main developments:

• A ‘river of fire’ engulfed Iran after an oil spill ignited Tehran amid ongoing US-Israeli air strikes.
• Israel says it will ‘pursue every successor’ of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iran appoints its next Supreme Leader.
• Donald Trump criticises Sir Keir Starmer again, telling him: ‘We don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won.’
• At least 10 explosions were then heard over Tel Aviv as Iran sent a wave of missiles at Israel in retaliation for the overnight strikes.
• And a new wave of missiles targeted the UAE with hundreds of missiles and almost 1,500 drones detected, most of which were destroyed.

Several people are injured in an Iranian drone attack on Bahrain’s island of Sitra, its interior ministry says, as two loud explosions are heard.

‘As a result of the blatant Iranian aggression, injuries among citizens were reported, one of them serious, and a number of houses in Sitra were damaged as a result of an attack by drones,’ the ministry says.

Bahrain previously accused Iran of indiscriminately attacking civilian targets and damaging one of its desalination plants, though its electricity and water authority said supplies remained online.

Personnel at the US diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia have been told to leave the country amid a wave of attacks in recent days, according to the New York Times.

The Saudi Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday that the US embassy in Riyadh had been targeted by two drones, causing a small fire to break out.

The embassy was closed following the attack and Americans were ordered to shelter in place.

The IRGC has branded the new Supreme Leader an ‘all-encompassing jurist, a young thinker and the most knowledgeable on political and social issues’, according to multiple Iranian media outlets.

The armed force also expressed its ‘respect, devotion and obedience’ to Mojtaba Khamenei and insisted its members are ‘ready for complete obedience and self-sacrifice in carrying out the divine commands of the Guardian Jurist’.

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has revealed Mojtaba Khamenei was selected as the country’s new leader in spite of various threats.

He said the Ayatollah’s son was chosen in the face of ‘Trump’s threat to bomb it’, according to multiple Iranian news agencies.

President Trump has previously described Mojtaba’s potential succession to the role as ‘unacceptable’, while Israel has threatened to remove any leader appointed.

Speaking to Sky News, Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani revealed his ‘big sense of betrayal’ at Iran’s strikes on the country.

He said: ‘To see the attack which had been pre-planned…once the war started, just maybe an hour after the start of the war, Qatar and other Gulf countries were attacked right away.

‘We’ve repeatedly been saying we are not going to take part in any attacks or wars against our neighbours. We would like to see a peaceful neighbourhood, we are helping Iran and the United States to reach diplomatic solutions.

‘But this miscalculation by the Iranians to attack the Gulf countries has destroyed everything.’

Though rarely photographed and without an official government position on his CV, Mojtaba Khamenei has long been viewed as an influence on his father, the Ayatollah.

US diplomatic cables previously described him as ‘the power behind the robes’ and one of the key players within the regime, according to the Associated Press.

While Mojtaba has not held senior political roles, he studied under religious conservatives in Islamic seminaries in the Shiite holy city Qom.

The regime’s 88-person assembly is tasked with appointing, supervising and potentially dismissing the supreme leader.

It met on Tuesday in Qom to find a successor to Ali Khamenei, who was killed on Saturday by joint US-Israeli strikes.

Various clerics seemed to contradict each other with their remarks over the past few days, leading to speculation of a disagreement over the favoured successor.

But Mojtaba was today confirmed as the new Supreme Leader, suggesting he had the backing of the assembly.

A statement from the Assembly of Experts was read out on state TV to announce the decision: ‘Despite the acute wartime conditions and the direct threats of the enemies against this popular institution, and despite the bombing of the offices of the Secretariat of the Assembly of Experts, which resulted in the martyrdom of several staff members and members of its security team, did not pause even for a moment in the process of selecting and introducing the leadership of the Islamic system.’

Born in 1969 in the holy city of Mashhad, he grew up as his father was helping to lead the opposition to the Shah.

His wife Zahra Adel and his mother, Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, are among the dead from Saturday’s strikes.

After a secondary education at the religious Alavi School, Mojtaba spent a few short stints in the military during the Iran-Iraq War, according to Iranian media.

He then continued his religious studies in 1999 in the holy city of Qom, while maintaining a low profile – in contrast to his father.

Indeed, the new Supreme Leader has been pictured very few times and has never given an official interview.

Mojtaba is not believed to have been one of the three names penned by his father last year as a potential successor, nor has he ever held government office.

Mojtaba Khamenei – who tonight was announced as the new Supreme Leader of Iran amid a continued escalation in the country’s conflict with the US and Israel – has previously been branded ‘unacceptable’ by US President Donald Trump.

His appointment comes just a week after his father Ali Khamenei was killed by targeted Israeli strikes.

And Trump this week made his feelings clear about the Ayatollah’s son.

Trump said somewhat sarcastically that ‘at some point they’ll be calling me to ask who I’d like’ to replace Khamenei.

The president has said he would personally select a new leader and Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was ‘unlikely’ and ‘unacceptable’.