Iran has named Mojtaba Khamenei the country’s new supreme leader following the killing of his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes on February 28, the state-run media has announced
Iran names Khamenei’s son as new Supreme Leader after father’s killing, just over a week after the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in United States-Israeli strikes that plunged the region into a sprawling war. pic.twitter.com/UNGUEZwIJD
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 8, 2026
Iran just named a new supreme leader — and it’s the late Ayatollah Khamenei’s 56-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei. President Trump said just days ago that Khamenei’s son would be an "unacceptable choice." ABC News' Selina Wang reports. https://t.co/9clDFyo1jE pic.twitter.com/jzWR2fg1dS
— ABC News (@ABC) March 8, 2026
“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” the president told ABC News. “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.”
He added, “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.”
Any new Iran leader will be a target, says Israel
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned earlier that any leader appointed by Iran’s regime will be a target after launching fresh waves of strikes overnight on multiple fronts.
Katz: EVERY FUTURE IRANIAN LEADER IS A TARGET
Israeli Defense Minister says anyone appointed by Tehran will be an ‘unequivocal target for elimination’
Adds Israel and the US will crush the regime and create conditions for Iranians to overthrow it pic.twitter.com/BVhbaNqazo
— RT (@RT_com) March 4, 2026