6 days ago
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BEFORE he suffered an inglorious death in US-Israeli strikes, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ensured his most important wish was in his will.
He asked that his impotent son, Mojtaba Khamenei, not be named as his successor.
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Mojtaba was slammed as a “lightweight” by US President Donald Trump ahead of his selection as Iran’s new Supreme Leader.
It is believed the Iranian Revolutionary Guard piled pressure on the regime to elect the 56-year-old as Iran continues to fight back against the US and Israel.
The guards pushed for Mojtaba’s appointment – arguing that he had the qualifications needed to steer Iran in a time of crisis.
But Khosro Isfahani, a research director for opposition group National Union for Democracy, told the New York Post that the late Khamenei felt his son lacked the experience or capability to run Iran.
“In Khamenei’s will, he explicitly asked Mojtaba not to be named as successor,” Isfahani who has tied to Iranian intelligence said.
Adding: “Mojtaba is an impotent young cleric who has achieved nothing in terms of political life.
“All these years, he has been nothing without his father’s name.”
The late Ayatollah had named three potential successors to him before his death – none of whom were Mojtaba.
Citing sources in Iran, Isfahani said the IRGC forced the Assemble of experts into a vote after a week of deliberation.
And even then, when Mojtaba failed to win a majority, the IRGC made sure he was appointed.
Mojtaba never held government office prior to his appointment.
He is understood to be a hardline conservative cleric who advocated for developing nuclear bombs – and who has strong links to Iran’s brutal Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
But the bloodthirsty guards see him only as a “puppet”, Isfahani said.
Mojtaba, who reportedly has “a bleak human rights record”, has helped suppress domestic protests and also served in the Iran–Iraq War.
Trump had earlier signaled that Mojtaba was an “unacceptable” choice.
He told Axios: “They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela.”
Without his involvement, the US would be back to war with Iran “in five years”, Trump added.
“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” the US leader said.
Both the US and Israel have already marked up the new leader and are prepared to assassinate him if he does not meet a series of demands, according to reports.
Those demands include a total abandonment of Iran’s nuclear weapons, the Wall Street Journal reported.
At least 49 other high-ranking officials were killed in the strike that took out Mojtaba’s father and plunged the Middle East into an eleven day war.
Mojtaba’s mother, wife and son were all killed in the blast.
The new Supreme Leader was once under pressure from his family to produce heirs, according to a classified 2008 briefing sent from the State Department to the US embassy in London.
US intelligence suggests Mojtaba married late in life in 2004 – reportedly due to the “impotency problem treated and eventually resolved during three extended visits to the UK”.
He reportedly needed four visits to hospital, including one final stay which lasted two months – and eventually had a son named after his father Ali.
English (US) · 