Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the assassinated Ali Khamenei, is being heavily tipped to succeed his father as supreme leader of Iran, which would pitch a hardliner into the task of steering the Islamic republic through the most turbulent period in its 48-year history and offer a powerful signal that, for now, it has no intention of changing course.

No official confirmation has been given and the announcement may be delayed until after the funeral of Ali Khamenei, which was on Wednesday postponed.

His son is believed to have been the choice of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the Israeli defence minister, Gideon Saar, has warned he will be assassinated.

Ayatollah Seyed Khatani, a member of the Assembly of Experts, the body that chooses the new supreme leader, said the assembly was close to selecting a leader.

Rigid in his anti-western views, Mojtaba Khamenei is not the candidate Donald Trump would have wanted. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said on Tuesday that Iran was run by “religious fanatic lunatics” – and Khamenei’s appointment is hardly likely to dispel that opinion.

  • SaveTheTuaHawk
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    3 days ago

    They keep these Ayatollahs in an underground PEZ dispenser.

    • intrepid
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      3 days ago

      So are the US dictators. You’re in for a looong ride!

      • TehPers@beehaw.org
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        3 days ago

        Anyone else waiting for Jeb Bush to be elected president? I’m not, but that would show something about the elections here, and it wouldn’t be showing anything good (or new, for that matter).

        • intrepid
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          3 days ago

          Actually, it’s Don Jr in the succession line, not Jeb Bush. Though that would be decades from now. The succession plan was exposed around the time Charlie Kirk was assassinated, because he was in it too. Vance is the immediate successor.

          • TehPers@beehaw.org
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            3 days ago

            I’m more referring to Jeb because he did run for president, and it would make for a third Bush in office (H.W., his first son W., and his second son Jeb).

            But yes, the succession line for Trump and his faction is different.

            • Powderhorn@beehaw.orgOP
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              1 day ago

              He only lost because of the absurd exclamation mark. Luby’s would still be a going concern with smaller punctuation.