
A report published by IranWire claims that the Intelligence Organization of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has pressured and threatened members of the Assembly of Experts to secure the proclamation of Mojtaba Khamenei as the third Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.
According to a source quoted by the media, the pressure from the Revolutionary Guard to declare Mojtaba Khamenei his father's successor was so great that some dissenting members of the Assembly of Experts were forced to accept the decision after they and their families were threatened.
The source points out that the silence of some members after the announcement of the new leader may be a result of these threats. According to the report, threatening family members is a practice that has been used before by the security apparatus in Iran to silence critics, journalists or whistleblowers of corruption.
The report also mentions the case of Abbas Palizdar, a former member of a judicial investigative commission during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who stopped publishing his corruption allegations only after he and several family members and friends were arrested.
According to IranWire's source, the IRGC security apparatus has continued to threaten dissenting members of the Assembly of Experts to avoid any challenge to Mojtaba Khamenei's leadership.
On March 8, the Assembly of Experts officially announced that Mojtaba Khamenei had been elected the third Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, following the death of his father, Ali Khamenei. A few days before this announcement, Iran International also reported that the decision was made under pressure from the Revolutionary Guard.
However, despite the announcement, no new footage or speeches from the new leader have been broadcast so far.
Iranian state media refers to him as the "wounded one of Ramadan," while details of his health condition following the reported Israeli and American attacks on the supreme leader's office remain unclear.