Despite some news claims that Mojtaba Khamenei has been chosen as the next Supreme Leader of Iran, Iranians are saying that, in fact, the election of a successor to the murdered Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has not happened yet. “The Council of Experts must select the next leader from among the candidates. Since there has been no official statement from the Council of Experts so far, all such news remains speculation and rumor. We cannot officially confirm this,” Iranian Ambassador to Belarus Alireza Sanei said in Minsk yesterday, reported TASS.
According to Al Mayadeen, the Assembly of Experts has drawn up a short list of candidates for the position of Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to Assembly member Sayyed Ahmad Khatami. Speaking in a phone interview with Iranian state television, Khatami confirmed that “the Assembly of Experts will elect the Leader “at the earliest possible opportunity,” adding that the body is “close to selecting the new Leader” and is proceeding within the constitutional framework.
