Mojtaba Khamenei's (pictured above) appointment has not been formally finalized or announced; the selection of Iran's new supreme leader must be approved by Iran's clerical body, the Assembly of Experts. Still, he is widely considered the frontrunner for his late father's position.
The second-born son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has never held a major elected office but has long been one of the most influential figures inside Iran's political and security establishment. He is known for opposing reformist movements and engagement with the West, and he is expected to maintain or even intensify the ideological stance of the Iranian regime.
His ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are considered one of the main reasons he could consolidate power quickly. His older brother, Mostafa, lacks the clerical rank.
Trump, however, says the late supreme leader's 56-year-old son "is unacceptable" and "a lightweight."
Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch agrees with that assessment.
"Mojtaba Khamenei in the first place is a hardliner," Spencer notes. "He's responsible for a lot of the repression. He is a brutal and bloodthirsty character, and so the choice of him to be the new supreme leader is an indication that the Islamic regime is going to get even worse and become even more brutal to its own people in order to survive."
With Trump saying he must be involved in choosing Iran's next leader, Spencer expects a showdown.
"For Trump to say it's not acceptable — obviously the Iranians aren't going to pay any attention to that, but it does seem to indicate that Trump intends to fight on and that he will continue," Spencer tells AFN.
He says that is the closest the president has come to saying that this is a "regime change war" that will carry on until the Islamic republic is gone.
"The other option that the Iranian leadership would say, 'Oh, OK—let's choose a supreme leader that Trump likes.' That's not going to happen," the expert asserts.
Legally, the U.S. has not officially declared war on Iran.
