Iran US Israel

Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran’s late supreme leader, has been named his successor. He had long been considered a contender, even before an Israeli strike killed his father at the start of the war. He had never been elected or appointed to a government position. U.S. President Donald Trump had called the possible selection of the younger Khamenei unacceptable to succeed his father. There was no immediate White House comment after the announcement by Iran’s state TV shortly after midnight Monday. Two US officials say the State Department will order nonessential personnel and families of all staff to leave Saudi Arabia as Iran escalates its retaliation for U.S.-Israel military operations.

Iran has named the hard-line Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as supreme leader. The decision signals no letup in the war launched by the United States and Israel. Oil prices surged as Iran attacked regional energy infrastructure and the U.S. and Israel bombed targets across Iran. With Iran’s theocracy under assault for more than a week, the country’s Assembly of Experts chose the secretive, 56-year-old cleric with close ties to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as the new supreme leader. The Guard has been firing missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf Arab states since Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had ruled Iran for 37 years, was killed during the war’s opening salvo.