Ayatollah Khameneis oldest son elected as supreme leader to replace his dad: report

The son of Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was selected to replace him as supreme leader, according to a report in Iranian opposition media.Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was tapped to assume control of the country by Iran’s Assembly of experts, Iranian International reported Tuesday.The report was widely being picked up by Israeli media, but had not been confirmed by Iranian state mouthpieces.Mojtaba was at first reported to be among the 40 top lieutenants killed during the Saturday strike that took out Iran’s highest-ranking cleric.The appointment came as questions have swirled for days about who would replace the senior Khamenei, a cult of personality who ruled over Iran with an iron grip and fiercely anti-western agenda for decades.Motjaba is known for a staunch adherence to his father’s hardline conservatism, and has close ties to Iran’s notoriously brutal Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military body, according to CNN.He had no official role in his father’s regime, but was still sanctioned by the US in 2019.The appointment is unexpected, as Iran has looked down on family succession in its leadership – especially since the regime seized power by toppling a monarchy in the 1979 revolution.Iran has been in the hands of a three-man council run by two of Khamenei’s top henchmen who survived the strike, with speculation running wild about who would grab power in the vacuum left behind by the attacks.The Middle Eastern nation has been plunged into chaos since the strikes, with missiles continuing to fall across the country as it lashes back with rockets and drones at US interests across the region....