By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Caption: Mojtaba Kahmenei. (Image: Tasmin/Wikimedia Commons).
Members of the body responsible for selecting Iran’s top leader confirmed that a consensus has been reached to choose Iran’s next supreme leader after internal deliberations.
The new leader will succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an US-Israeli air-strike eight days ago.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said it would be unacceptable for Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to succeed him. Mojtaba emerged as an early frontrunner.
“All rumors and reports suggesting that the Assembly of Experts has not yet made a decision are completely false,” Ahmad Alamolhoda said in statements carried by the Mehr News Agency.
He said the leadership vote had already taken place and a successor had been chosen, without giving his name.
Alamolhoda said under Iran’s Constitution, no one, including members of the Assembly of Experts, has the right to change their vote once the decision is made.
He added that the announcement of the decision depends on Ayatollah Hashem Hosseini Bushehri, who is responsible for officially communicating the assembly’s decision to the public.
Meanwhile the US-Israeli attack on the Fardis oil depot in the city of Karaj in the province of Alborz has killed at least six people and injured 21, according to the Tasnim news agency, which quoted a local security official.
A fresh wave of Iranian strikes hit the Gulf on Sunday, with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait all reporting attacks.
More than 1,200 people, including Khamenei and top military officials, have been killed and over 10,000 others injured in US-Israeli attacks on Iran since Feb. 28, according to Iranian official data.