STORY: Iran's Assembly of Experts has named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's new supreme leader, state media reported on Monday (March 9).

Newsreaders from Iranian State TV's Channel One read out the announcement from the assembly, which came shortly after midnight Tehran time.

Mojtaba, a mid-ranking cleric with close ties to the powerful Revolutionary Guards, had long been viewed by elements of Iran's ruling establishment as a potential successor to his father, who was killed after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran.

Although Iran's ruling ideology frowns on the principle of hereditary succession, he has a powerful following within the Guards and his dead father's still-influential office.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: PRESENTER ON CHANNEL ONE OF STATE TV ANNOUNCING KHAMENEI'S SON, MOJTABA KHAMENEI, AS SUCCESSOR TO HIS LATE FATHER'S ROLE AS SUPREME LEADER OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN.

COMPLETE SCRIPT TO FOLLOW

SHOWS: TEHRAN, IRAN (MARCH 9, 2026) (WANA - No use VOA Persian. No use BBC Persian. No use Manoto. No use Iran International, No Use Radio Farda)

1. (SOUNDBITE)(Farsi) PRESENTERS ON CHANNEL ONE OF STATE TV, READING ANNOUNCEMENT:

“This Assembly, after thorough and extensive deliberations and by utilising the authority granted under Article 108 of the Constitution, and in accordance with its religious duty and belief in being present before Almighty God, in today’s extraordinary session, based on the decisive vote of the esteemed members of the Assembly of Experts, appoints and introduces Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei—may God preserve him—as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”