Crowds gather in Tehran's Enqelab Square to pledge allegiance to Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei

Tehran [Iran], March 9 (ANI): Following the appointment of a new Supreme Leader by Iran's Assembly of Experts, preparations are underway in the capital on Monday as thousands of people gather at Tehran's Enqelab Square to pledge allegiance to Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was selected to lead the Islamic Republic, state broadcaster Press TV reported.
According to visuals shared by Press TV, the area was covered with a dense crowd of people holding or waving Iranian national flags. Some participants were also seen carrying posters, portraits, or placards of the newly appointed leader in his support.
Earlier, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, who is said to be more hardline than his father, was announced as the third Supreme Leader of Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
The announcement, following a decision by the country's Assembly of Experts after days of deliberation, came late Sunday night (local time), marking a pivotal moment in the political and religious leadership of the Islamic Republic.
The clerical body responsible for appointing the country's supreme leader confirmed the decision in a formal statement, declaring, "By a decisive vote, the Assembly of Experts elected Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
Born in 1969 in the city of Mashhad, Mojtaba Khamenei is the second son of the late Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who served as Iran's supreme leader for nearly four decades.
Now assuming leadership at a time of significant regional tension and political uncertainty, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei takes charge of the Islamic Republic with decades of clerical training and experience working closely with the country's governing institutions.
According to a Times of Israel report, analysts say the choice of Mojtaba, a deeply hardline cleric whose wife, mother and other family members were also killed in US-Israeli strikes, sends an unequivocal message: Iran's leadership has rejected any prospect of compromise to preserve the system and sees no path forward except confrontation, revenge and endurance.
Mojtaba has long opposed reformist groups advocating engagement with the West.
His appointment marks the beginning of a new chapter in the leadership of Iran's Islamic Revolution, with supporters emphasising continuity in the ideological and institutional legacy established by previous leaders. The supreme leader is at the heart of Iran's Shiite theocracy and has final say over all matters of state. He also serves as the commander-in-chief of the country's military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. (ANI)