Four days after his appointment as Iran’s new supreme leader, the world finally got a glimpse of Mojtaba Khamenei’s worldview.
But Khamenei, now elevated to the status of ayatollah and referred to by his followers as the “noble leader” of the Islamic revolution, did not appear in the video or issue an audio statement.
Instead, he issued a long written message outlining his views on the course of the war, praising the Iranian military and demanding reparations for those who attacked Iran, which was then purportedly read out on state television.
This message was quickly disseminated through a new Telegram channel created by his office. It was loaded with coded symbolism meant to appeal to his base and was highlighted by the release of images of three samples of the handwriting of first supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini, that of slain Ali Khamenei, and that of his son himself.
The message was clear. A new era has begun, and its leaders are positioning themselves as the rightful successors of their predecessors.
The statement suggested that Khamenei learned of his appointment on state television, which caught him by surprise. He also described his deceased father in the language of flowers, saying that he was able to see his father’s corpse after his death. His clenched fists were said to be a final gesture of defiance. Khamenei was killed in a US and Israeli airstrike at the start of the war.
Khamenei’s message was, as usual, filled with bombastic rhetoric. He praised Iran’s “resistance front,” code for Iran’s battered proxy network, and threatened to continue targeting U.S. interests in the region while calling on neighboring countries to shut down U.S. military bases.
In comments that further rattled volatile markets, he emphasized closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil route, to global trade.
“Intimidation and bravado”
After years of operating in the shadows, Khamenei faced the glare of leadership and used this message to outline his own policies, which sound very similar to those of his father.
“Your departure left a deep emotional scar…many did not realize your true worth. It will probably be many years before all the veils are lifted,” he said of his father in a statement.
Khamenei did not offer a way out for an immediate end to the violence or elaborate on what an acceptable outcome would be for the Iranian government, instead promising that “revenge” for those killed would “remain undisclosed.”
Iran analyst Arash Azizi told CNN that there was no promise of reform in Khamenei’s message or any indication that he intended to “abandon the core policies of his father,” adding that the message “offers little hope for a better future for the Iranian people.”
“Rather, it is full of threats and bravado, including banal threats to destroy Israel and force the evacuation of US military bases from the region. In short, it brings eternal conflict to Iranians and Iran’s neighbors in the region,” Azizi added.
However, central questions remain unanswered. The Iranian people and the world have yet to see or hear about the new leader, who was reportedly wounded early in the war.
This statement may satisfy his base, but it does little about who really has the power to decide.
Dina Esfandiary, head of the Middle East at Geneva-based Bloomberg Economics, told CNN’s Becky Anderson that the idea is to project a defiant stance.
“Iran is not seeking a cease-fire or an end to the war, and has clearly shown that it does not think it has paid enough for the United States, its allies, or even the global economy,” she added. “For me, it looks like things are still going on.”
