The 88-member Assembly of Experts announced that in today’s emergency session, and following a decisive vote by representatives of the Assembly of Experts, Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Khamenei has been appointed as the third Supreme Leader of Iran.
This announcement came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump stated that any successor chosen by Iran “would not last long” unless approved by him. Meanwhile, Israel had preempted the choice of the new leader by warning that any successor to Khamenei would be a “certain target for assassination.”
The name of the Supreme Leader’s second son had been in circulation as a candidate to assume the position, which holds the decisive say in the country’s high policies. Iran sought to choose a successor to Khamenei, who has led the country since 1989, “at the earliest opportunity,” as stated earlier this week by Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts responsible for the selection.
Other names considered for this post, which must be held by a cleric, included Ali Reza Aref, a member of the Guardian Council and one of the three members of the Transitional Leadership Council, Mohsen Araki (a conservative), and Hassan Khomeini.
With his election, 56-year-old Mohammad Mehdi succeeds his father Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the age of 86, after remaining at the top of the power hierarchy in Iran for more than three decades. The late Supreme Leader had denied in 2024 the possibility of the position passing to a family member.
Among the six sons of the late leader, Mohammad Mehdi, born on September 8, 1969, in Mashhad in northeastern Iran, is the only one who has engaged in public affairs, although he currently holds no official position.
