Iran’s New Leader

Ever since the tragic death of Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on February 28th, Iran has finally settled on who the new leader is. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, became Iran’s new leader on March 8th. Many wonder about who he is. He was born September 8th, 1969, and is the second child of Khamenei amongst six others. At seventeen, he served in the military, and in 1999, went to Qom to continue his religious studies. Now at 56 years old, despite keeping a low profile in his early days and never having held a government office position, it’s rumored that he had his influence on Iran in the background. Though there has been some controversy surrounding the selection due to Islamic religion stating that the supreme leader should be chosen for his religious standing and proven leadership, not through hereditary succession. There is also a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts that came out two years ago saying that Ali Khamenei was against the idea of his son being one of the successors for future leadership. However, views may differ as he spoke out on March 12th regarding what had happened previously with Israel, the U.S, and Iran. He writes that he’ll continue blocking the oil trade route and attacking neighboring countries that have military bases from the U.S, which has most likely been the cause for the recent inflation of oil prices. Many can argue that his decision is pointless and will potentially get people killed for no reason after Trump claiming he wants to put an end to the war soon. However, others believe that the precautions he’s taking are necessary given that he was injured in the strikes that had gotten his father killed and that he must protect himself even if it comes to extreme measures.

Image Courtesy of english.khamenei.ir on Wikimedia Commons.