Iran officially announced on Sunday that the Assembly of Experts has selected Mojtaba Khamenei to serve as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.
He will be replacing his father, Ali Khamenei, who was eliminated in joint US-Israeli strikes in Iran last week.
For years, Mojtaba Khamenei has been considered the most powerful man in the security apparatus and a preferred candidate of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), but his appointment has encountered many obstacles.
Over the weekend it was reported that the Supreme Leader's son was wounded in the opening blow of Operation Roaring Lion on Saturday morning last week, but survived the assassination attempt. Mojtaba's father, mother, wife and son were all killed that day.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump expressed opposition to the son's appointment. "Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me, we want someone who will bring harmony and peace to Iran. I have to be involved in the appointment," he told Axios last Thursday.
On Sunday, Trump told ABC News that Iran’s next supreme leader would need US approval to remain in power, warning that otherwise the leader "is not going to last long."
"He’s going to have to get approval from us," Trump told the American news outlet. "If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long." He added that the goal is to avoid repeated conflicts over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
"I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again, or worse, let them have a nuclear weapon," Trump said.