Iran's Assembly of Experts elects Mojtaba Khamenei supreme leader under IRGC pressure

Iran's Assembly of Experts announced Mojtaba Khamenei — son of assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — as the country's new supreme leader on March 9, 2026, following a selection process that ran March 3-8. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps pressured Assembly members with "repeated contacts and psychological and political pressure" to secure the vote; eight members boycotted in protest. Despite Trump's public declaration that Mojtaba was "unacceptable," and U.S.-Israeli strikes on the Assembly of Experts building in Qom, Iran defied Washington and installed him.