After his father, former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on February 28th, Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei was declared the new Supreme Leader. His selection speaks volumes, even if very little of his political beliefs is known.
Firstly, President Trump has stated that a Supreme Leader elected without US approval is “not going to last long”. The president has made his views on all potential Supreme Leaders, prior to Khamenei’s selection, clear. Similarly, his dislike of Iran’s choice has been equally opaque, calling it “unacceptable”. Notably, the younger Khamenei succeeding his father is just as important domestically as internationally. He is the third Supreme Leader since the Iranian Revolution, but the revolution itself overthrew a hereditary monarchy system.
Khamenei’s political stances are unclear at the moment because he had not held an elected office prior to being Supreme Leader; however, he has worked in his father’s office, building connections and augmenting his influence primarily with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Furthermore, it is believed that he played a role in crushing the Green Revolution, a political uprising that protested presidential election fraud that was met with a brutal government crackdown. He also served, and was injured, in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s; it was likely during this time that he was able to create many of his military connections, a useful tool now that he is the Supreme Leader.
President Trump has suggested that there is a high chance that Khamenei has been injured or killed since becoming Supreme Leader; this possibility is seeming more and more likely as no proof of life has been released to prove the Supreme Leader alive and well. Nevertheless, a few written statements have been sent out, allegedly, from him. For Nowruz, the Persian New Year, the Supreme Leader declared the new year as “Resistance Economy under National Unity and National Security”. Some rumors also abound that Khamenei has become more of a political figurehead than a leader; if so, then it would likely be the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that has the country’s reins in its hands.
With so little solid information released to the public, it has become increasingly difficult to predict the impact the new Supreme Leader may have on his country and on our world. However, we can hope that the conflict will soon be resolved with little damage to all.