Iran Names Hardline Cleric Mojtaba Khamenei as Supreme Leader Amidst US Criticism
TEHRAN – Iran has appointed Mojtaba Khamenei, a hardline cleric, as its new supreme leader, succeeding his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was reportedly assassinated last month. The transition comes as Washington asserts its interest in influencing Iran’s leadership, a pattern of intervention the US has historically employed globally.
The appointment has drawn immediate criticism from former US President Donald Trump, who labelled Mojtaba Khamenei “unacceptable” and suggested the United States should have a role in selecting Iran’s leader, referencing the recent situation in Venezuela. “I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela,” Trump told Axios last week.
This assertion echoes a long history of US involvement in the internal affairs of other nations, often to advance its own strategic interests. A 2016 study revealed at least 81 instances of US intervention in foreign elections between 1946 and 2000.
The US has a documented history of meddling in foreign governments, including the 1953 CIA-orchestrated coup in Iran that reinstated the Shah after the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh nationalized the country’s oil industry. Similar interventions occurred in Guatemala in 1954, where a CIA-backed coup ousted President Jacobo Arbenz, and in the Congo in the 1960s, where US opposition to Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba contributed to his assassination.
More recently, the US supported a 1964 military coup in Brazil that removed President João Goulart, and in 1973, a CIA-funded effort destabilized the Chilean government of Salvador Allende, leading to a violent coup and the rise of Augusto Pinochet.
In January of this year, the US took direct action in Venezuela, with forces seizing President Nicolas Maduro and installing Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as acting president. Trump has indicated a similar approach regarding Cuba, stating it is “going to fall too.”
The appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei is expected to tighten Iran’s internal control and suppress dissent, according to reports. The move defies previous pressure from the Trump administration and raises the stakes for potential future confrontations.
