The council responsible for selecting Iran’s forthcoming supreme leader has reportedly finalized its decision, according to several prominent hardline members, although the chosen candidate remains unnamed.
Ayatollah Ahmad Alam al-Hoda, a high-ranking cleric within the 88-member Assembly of Experts, revealed to the semi-official Mehr news agency, “The leadership elections have concluded, and the leader has been designated.”
Speculation is rife that Mojtaba Khamenei, the younger son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, may ascend to the position of supreme leader.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed interest in influencing Iran’s leadership choices, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi firmly dismissed any such involvement.
“We do not permit any external interference in our domestic matters. It is up to the Iranian populace to choose their new leader,” Araghchi stated in an interview with NBC in the United States.
“This is strictly the concern of the Iranian people, and no one else has a say,” he asserted.
But Trump told US media that the new supreme leader “is not going to last long” without his approval.
“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump told ABC News in an interview. “If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long.”
