Meet the New Boss
Khamenei had reservations about son, says US intelligence: Report
by Max Rego
The late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly was wary of his son, newly elected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, succeeding him, according to U.S. intelligence reports.
CBS News reported Sunday that President Trump, Vice President Vance and other senior officials have received intelligence that the new Iranian leader’s father believed his son was not very bright and not qualified to take up the mantle upon his death.
The younger Khamenei, 56, was elected supreme leader by Iran’s Assembly of Experts earlier this month — after his father, the 86-year-old cleric who held the title for nearly four decades, was killed by Israeli strikes on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
U.S. intelligence also found that Ali Khamenei was aware of “personal” issues his son had, according to CBS News. The New York Post reported Monday, citing three sources, that American intelligence found that the younger Khamenei may be gay.
Homosexuality is illegal in Iran, and those found to be in violation are subject to the death penalty.
Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement since being elected last Thursday. In a message read on Iranian state television, he said that Iran will continue to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and vowed that “other fronts” in the war “in which the enemy has little experience” would be opened if U.S.-Israeli strikes on his country continue.
Trump, meanwhile, has dismissed the new leader as a “lightweight” and an “unacceptable” choice to succeed his father. The president told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade on Friday that Mojtaba Khamenei is “not somebody that the father even wanted” in charge of Iran.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Friday that Mojtaba Khamenei is “wounded and likely disfigured” from strikes. Iran has not provided details on the new supreme leader’s condition.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is also offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on the new supreme leader and a host of other top Iranian officials, including Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s national security council.
Still no video or even audio proof-of-life from Cardboard Khamenei. In other news, Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani and Basij Commander Gholamreza Soleimani are no longer among among the living, Inshallah.
