Assembly of Experts Selects New Iranian Supreme Leader — Name to Be Announced

The Assembly of Experts — Iran's 88-member clerical body tasked with selecting the supreme leader — announced on Day 9 that a vote had taken place and a new supreme leader had been chosen. Ahmad Alamolhoda, a member of the Assembly, was quoted by Iran's Mehr news agency: 'The vote to appoint the leader has taken place and the leader has been chosen.' The secretariat of the body was expected to formally announce the name later. Multiple Assembly members confirmed the decision. Mohsen Heydari, representing Khuzestan province in the selection body, said 'the most suitable candidate, approved by the majority of the Assembly of Experts, has been determined,' according to ISNA. One member suggested that Mojtaba Khamenei — son of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — had been selected, noting that 'the Great Satan has also mentioned the name of the choice made by the representatives' — a reference to Donald Trump, who had publicly rejected Mojtaba as a lightweight and insisted he should have a say in the succession. Iranian officials had categorically rejected any US role in the selection. The announcement of a new supreme leader is the most consequential political development of the war. The position is the highest political and religious authority in Iran and has final say on all matters of state including military operations and nuclear policy. A Khamenei successor would determine whether Iran continues to fight, seeks de-escalation, or accepts a negotiated settlement — making the identity and inclinations of the new leader the central variable in the war's outcome.