Chinese analysts expect Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, to continue and possibly harden his assassinated father’s policies towards the US and Israel.
The appointment of the 56-year-old cleric could signal a sense of continuity inside Iran, as well as stabilise ties between Beijing and Tehran, the analysts added.
Iran’s Assembly of Experts confirmed on Monday that the younger Khamenei would succeed the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the supreme leader – a post holding the final say over state affairs, including foreign policy and the country’s nuclear programme.
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Personal and national grievances could drive Khamenei to maintain his father’s hardline stance towards the United States and Israel, according to Zhou Rong, director of the Global South Countries Studies Centre at the Beijing-based think tank Grandview Institution.
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“He may even be tougher because he is young,” Zhou added.
