ZETEO:The Defiant Message Iran's New Leaders Are Sending the US
Mojtaba Khamenei, and the younger hawks around him, think that Iranian restraint only encouraged American aggression. Trump could come to regret his regime change
https://groups.io/g/cubanews/message/50775?p=%2C%2C%2C20%2C0%2C0%2C0%3A%3Arecentpostdate%2Fsticky%2C%2Cdefiant%2C20%2C2%2C0%2C118433133

Mar 19, 2026

Before the #US and #Israel launched their war on #Iran, #MojtabaKhamenei was an unlikely choice to succeed his father. The Islamic Revolution had ended the monarchy, and the revolution’s founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, had been explicit in denouncing primogeniture. Even Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba’s father, had written a letter to the Assembly of Experts, which chooses the supreme leader, asking that it not consider his son. Moreover, January’s mass protests meant that choosing another Khamenei would invite even more demonstrations and deepen the divide separating the people from the state. And yet, the majority of council members chose him anyway – sending a defiant message to the US, Israel, and the world.

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