President Donald Trump has expressed his disapproval over the naming of Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as his successor.
"Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me. "We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump said.
He added a new leader "is not going to last long" without his approval.
Bob Maginnis is a national defense analyst and president, of Maginnis Strategies, LLC.
"I'm not surprised because the No. 1 person was Khamenei himself. And as a result, he'll move forward with the same agenda as his father. Keep in mind that his father and he believed that God has called them to this time to do what they're doing."
Mojtaba Khamenei became an attractive candidate for Iran's supreme leader due to his deep ties with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), his role as a powerful behind-the-scenes gatekeeper in his father’s administration, and his anti-Western hardline stance.
He built influence through control of the Basij militia, close relationships with key security and intelligence figures, and oversight of his father’s political and security affairs, Reuters reports.
Not surprisingly, the IRGC strongly backed his candidacy, viewing him as a guarantor of continuity and ideological rigidity. His wartime service in the Iran–Iraq War and clerical studies in Qom bolstered his revolutionary credentials, while his marriage into the influential Haddad-Adel family strengthened political alliances.
Trump’s threats aren’t likely to make an impact with him because death doesn't matter to radicals like Khamenei, Maginnis said.
"His father died as a martyr; he will live until he is martyred if that happens. They believe that they are righteous. These people actually believe in some of this radical stuff. They’re willing to die for it. So be it."
