{"id":43696,"date":"2026-03-09T09:13:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T03:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/?p=43696"},"modified":"2026-03-09T09:13:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T03:28:06","slug":"mojtaba-khamenei-to-succeed-his-father-as-irans-supreme-leader-as-oil-prices-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/mojtaba-khamenei-to-succeed-his-father-as-irans-supreme-leader-as-oil-prices-surge\/","title":{"rendered":"Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father as Iran’s supreme leader as oil prices surge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reuters:<\/strong> Iran on Monday named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the \u200bweek-old US-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel.<\/p>\n

Mojtaba, a cleric with influence inside Iran\u2019s security forces and vast business networks under his father, had been viewed as a frontrunner \u200cin the lead-up to Sunday\u2019s vote by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics tasked with choosing Ali Khamenei\u2019s successor.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy a decisive vote, the Assembly of Experts, appointed Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran,\u201d the Assembly said in a statement issued just after midnight Tehran time.<\/p>\n

The position gives Mojtaba the final say in all matters of state in the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n

Mojtaba\u2019s appointment will likely draw the ire of US President Donald Trump, who said on \u200bSunday that Washington should have a say in the selection. \u201cIf he doesn\u2019t get approval from us, he\u2019s not going to last long,\u201d he told ABC News.<\/p>\n

Israel, ahead of the announcement, threatened to target whoever was \u200bchosen.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Times of Israel after the new supreme leader was named, Trump declined to respond, saying only \u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d according to the newspaper. \u2060Trump also said in the interview that ending the war would be a \u201cmutual\u201d decision with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

Mojtaba\u2019s father, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was killed in one of the first strikes launched against Iran more \u200bthan a week ago.<\/p>\n

Washington on Sunday ordered the departure of non-emergency employees at its embassy in Saudi Arabia, the latest drawdown of US diplomats as Iran has struck US facilities in the region.<\/p>\n

The US military reported a seventh American \u200bhas died from wounds sustained during Iran\u2019s initial counter-attack a week ago, a day after Trump presided over the return to the United States of the remains of the six others killed.<\/p>\n

The US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran\u2019s UN ambassador.<\/p>\n

Oil over $100 a Barrel<\/strong><\/p>\n

The expanding war has severely impacted the oil trade and surging prices sparked a fall in share futures in Asia on Monday, amid fears of rising living costs. The dollar rose sharply against the euro and the yen.<\/p>\n

US crude \u200bfutures rose more than 20% in early trade on Monday, hitting their highest since July 2022, amid fears of tighter supply and prolonged disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent jumped 17% to $108.73 a barrel, \u200bhaving already soared 28% last week.<\/p>\n

Trump, in a social media post, said oil prices \u201cwill drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over,\u201d and said the price \u200chike was \u201ca very \u2060small price to pay for USA., and World, Safety and Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defiance from Tehran<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iranian state media said the leadership of Iran\u2019s armed forces had pledged allegiance to Mojtaba Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement they are ready to follow the new supreme leader.<\/p>\n

The Assembly of Experts met on Sunday to elect a new supreme leader despite threats that the body would be targeted, Iran\u2019s security chief, Ali Larijani, said on state TV after the announcement.<\/p>\n

Mojtaba Khamenei could lead the country under the current sensitive conditions, Larijani said, calling for unity around the new leader.<\/p>\n

Iran has launched strikes across the region in retaliation against US and Israeli attacks. The US State Department said on \u200bSunday it had ordered non-emergency US government employees and \u200btheir family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to \u2060safety risks, days after the embassy in the Saudi capital was damaged in a drone attack blamed on Iran.<\/p>\n

Early on Sunday, the Saudi Defence Ministry said that it had shot down a drone that attempted to target the Diplomatic Quarter, a calm tree-lined neighbourhood on the city\u2019s western edge that hosts most foreign missions including the US embassy.<\/p>\n

The \u200bUS has already raised its warning level for Saudi Arabia and allowed some personnel to leave the country, and has ordered the departure of staff at embassies \u200bin Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and \u2060Bahrain since the outbreak of the war.<\/p>\n

Israel continued to target senior Iranian figures, including Abolqasem Babaian, the recently appointed head of the military office of the supreme leader, saying he was killed in a Saturday strike.<\/p>\n

\u2018Dangerous new phase’<\/strong><\/p>\n

As fighting escalated on Sunday, day nine of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, thick black smoke hung over Tehran, residents said, after strikes on oil storage facilities, opens new tab had lit up the night sky with plumes of orange flame.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the large-scale attack \u2060marked a \u201cdangerous new \u200bphase\u201d of the conflict and amounted to a war crime.<\/p>\n

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters the depots were used to \u200bfuel Iran\u2019s war effort, including producing or storing propellant for ballistic missiles. \u201cThey are a legal military target,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu said his government would press on with the assault and strike Iran\u2019s rulers \u201cwithout mercy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an organised plan with many surprises to destabilise the regime and enable change,\u201d \u200bhe said in a video statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reuters: Iran on Monday named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the \u200bweek-old US-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel. Mojtaba, a cleric with influence inside Iran\u2019s security forces and vast business networks under his father, had been viewed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43697,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43696"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43696"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43699,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43696\/revisions\/43699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}