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his mother, wife, and one of his sisters were also murdered in the strikes that killed his father....

WE LOVE OUR ABC... BUT WHY DO "THEY" HAVE TO EMPLOY SARCASTIC JOURNALISTS?... LONG GONE ARE THE DAYS OF RESPECTFUL AND TRUTHFUL REPORTS, THAT WERE NOT WRITTEN BY KIDS.... 

ANYWAY... SHOULD THE NAME OF THE JOURNO TELL US WHERE THE SLANT COMES FROM?  

AH, BUGGER, I COULD BE ACCUSED OF ANTISEMITISM... AND THE HEADLINE MAY NOT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY THIS LUCIA PERSON, BUT BY A JUNIOR ACCOUNTANT, MASCARADING AS AN "EDITOR" OF ONLINE ABC....

 

'Mini supreme leader' Mojtaba Khamenei could soon rise, but he's already the 'power behind the robes'

By Lucia Stein

As senior clerics responsible for selecting Iran's next supreme leader met earlier this week to discuss their pick, a familiar name emerged as the frontrunner: Mojtaba Khamenei.

The son of Iran's former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wields massive influence inside Iran and was once described in US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks as "the power behind the robes".

His mother, wife, and one of his sisters died in the strikes that killed his father last weekend, but the younger Khamenei was reportedly not present and is believed to still be alive.

And yet, despite the power he has wielded behind closed doors, analysts say he is a surprising choice for the top role.

Iran war live updates: For the latest news on the Middle East crisis read our blog.

For a long time, he was slated to become his father's successor.

"But for the past two years, [he] seemed to have dropped off from the radar," Vali Nasr, an expert on Iran and Shiite Islam at Johns Hopkins University, told the New York Times.

"If he is elected, it suggests it is a much more hard-line Revolutionary Guard side of the regime that is now in charge." 

Khamenei's son has not held government office, is rarely seen in public, and many Iranians have never even heard him speak.

But he is backed by one of the country's most powerful organisations, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as the Basij volunteer paramilitary force.

And his potential appointment arrives at a pivotal and turbulent moment in Iran's 48-year history.

The regime has only navigated the succession process once before, but unlike the managed transition that followed the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, this process will take place following currency erosion, a water crisis, massive protests, a widespread crackdown — and a full-scale war.

 

ER.... REMIND ME WHO STATED THIS WAR? YES, CORRECT: IT WAS THE MARTIANS....

 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has also warned that whoever comes next will be "an unequivocal target for elimination".

It will ultimately be up to the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body, to decide who the next leader is.

Political analysts inside Iran have told the ABC the assembly will "want to do [this] as soon as the security situation permits".

And if Mojtaba assumes the role, it would be a clear sign the regime has no intention of changing course as it faces attacks from not only Israel, but the United States.

The son rises in his father's place

Until 1979, Iran was ruled by the shah — a dictator, to some [MOST IRANIANS], who maintained a tight grip on power, while also pushing the country to become a Western-style secular nation.

Prolonged protests and a revolution followed, which saw the monarchy collapse, the Shah flee the country, and Islamic religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini take control.

Ali Khamenei was one of the men who pushed for the new regime, turning the chaos that followed into a ladder that he scaled to the very top.

In doing so, he changed the fate of Iran and his children.

Born in 1969, Mojtaba, Khamenei's second son, studied theology after graduating from high school.

At 17, he went to fight in the Iran-Iraq war [FOMENTED BY THE AMERICANS TO DESTROY IRAN, WHICH LEFT ONE MILLION DEAD IN TOTAL] with the Habib ibn Mazahir Battalion, a division of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

It would turn out to be the beginning of a lifelong entanglement. According to the US Treasury, the younger Khamenei has continued to work closely with the group, both with commanders of its expeditionary Quds Force and its all-volunteer Basij.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-07/iran-supreme-leader-son-mojtaba-khamenei-and-war/106419508

 

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SEE ALSO: https://thecradle.co/articles/us-bases-in-the-persian-gulf-security-shield-or-escalation-trigger

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

SEE ALSO: https://thecradle.co/articles/post-khamenei-iran-grief-resistance-and-the-road-to-a-new-leader

propagandum....

The UK High Court has heard arguments in a defamation case, in which a BBC Middle East editor is suing a journalist over an article that accused him of inserting “systematic Israeli propaganda” into the network’s coverage. Raffi Berg, who has publicly heaped praise on Israel, is seeking damages from Owen Jones and a retraction of his article.

Berg has previously admitted that he is an “admirer of the state of Israel.” Speaking in 2020, the editor claimed that he had been “accepted into a circle of trust among the people who belonged to, [and] some of who still work for” the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. He is also the author of a 2020 book titled ‘Red Sea Spies: The True Story of Mossad’s Fake Diving Resort’.

On Friday, the UK High Court heard both sides’ arguments. Berg insisted that the 2024 article ‘The BBC’s Civil War Over Gaza’ “singled [him] out” and attacked his “journalistic integrity,” causing him to suffer an “onslaught of hatred, intimidation and threats.”

The attorney for Jones countered that the article in question was “firmly focused on the BBC’s Gaza coverage for which Berg is responsible,” and that there was “no wider attack on his adherence to journalistic standards generally.”

Jones vowed to vigorously defend his reporting after Berg filed the lawsuit last November.

The story in question, published on Drop Site News in December 2024, claimed that the BBC was facing an “internal revolt over its reporting” on the Gaza conflict. Citing multiple anonymous current and former BBC employees, Jones alleged that Berg “micromanages” any Israel-related stories, watering down “everything that’s too critical” of the Jewish State and that the editor plays a key role in a wider BBC culture of “systematic Israeli propaganda.”

“Many of us have raised concerns that Raffi has the power to reframe every story, and we are ignored,” Jones cited one BBC journalist as saying.

The BBC, however, stood by its Middle East editor, with a spokesperson telling Jones that his allegations “fundamentally misdescribe this person’s role, and misunderstand the way the BBC works.”

https://www.rt.com/news/634043-bbc-israeli-propaganda-lawsuit/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.