"The Supreme Leader Should Be Hated by the Enemy"... Iran Reaches Consensus on New Supreme Leader

Assembly of Experts to Announce Results Tomorrow
Differences Remain Over Whether to Skip In-Person Meeting

Protesters mourning Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei, who died in a US military attack. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

The Assembly of Experts, Iran's constitutional body responsible for electing the Supreme Leader, announced that a consensus has been reached regarding the next Supreme Leader and that the selection is imminent.

According to Reuters on March 8 (local time), a senior cleric from the Assembly of Experts stated that the members would convene and elect the leader "within a day."

Reuters, citing Iranian media, reported that there are differences of opinion among Assembly members on whether they should meet in person to make a final decision or skip this procedure. If a general assembly is held and a face-to-face decision is made, Assembly members could be targeted by a US attack, as occurred with the death of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Ayatollah Mohsen Heydari Alekasir, a member of the Assembly, referred to US President Donald Trump's recent remarks regarding the next candidate, Khamenei's second son, saying, "The Supreme Leader of Iran should be hated by the enemy, not praised," and that this was the basis for his selection.

Previously, President Trump said in an interview with Axios that he could not accept Mojtaba Khamenei as the next Supreme Leader candidate, and insisted that, as in Venezuela, he should personally be involved in the succession decision.

Mojtaba Khamenei has never held an official government position in Iran, but is known to wield significant power in organizations such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and intelligence agencies as a close associate of his father. He is especially classified as a "hardliner" even within Iran.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.