Late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the clerical body responsible for selecting the country’s supreme leader, has reportedly reached a decision on a successor to the late Ali Khamenei, though the identity of the chosen figure has not yet been publicly disclosed.
Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, a member of the Assembly, said the most suitable candidate had been approved by a majority, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.
“The most suitable candidate, approved by the majority of the Assembly of Experts, has been determined”, Alekasir said on Sunday.
Another member of the assembly, Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri, confirmed the development in a video carried by Fars news agency, stating that “a firm opinion reflecting the majority view has been reached.”
Heidari Alekasir suggested that the successor would likely be someone opposed by the United States, indicating that criticism from Washington had played a role in shaping the internal debate within Iran.
“Someone opposed by the enemy is more likely to benefit Iran and Islam,” he said, referring to the U.S. as the “Great Satan,” a term commonly used by Iranian officials.
But U.S. President Donald Trump says the next Iranian supreme leader “is not going to last long” if the Middle East country does not get America’s approval first.
Trump spoke in an interview with ABC News on Sunday as the Islamic Republic gets closer to naming a successor to Ali Khamenei, who was killed last Saturday in US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump said.
“If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long. We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it.
“I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again or worse let them have a nuclear weapon.”
The Iranian council responsible for choosing the supreme leader is reported to have voted and would soon announce a name.
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