Iran prepares for inauguration of Mojtaba Khamenei

PanARMENIAN.Net - An oath ceremony for Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, will take place in Tehran on March 9.

The event will be held at Enghelab Square, according to Iran’s Islamic Propagation Coordination Council.

“A gathering of Tehran residents to pledge allegiance to Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, will begin at 15:00 (Tehran time) at Enghelab Square,” the council said in a statement, RIA Novosti reported, citing the Fars news agency.

Earlier, Iran’s Assembly of Experts confirmed that Mojtaba Khamenei — the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes — had been chosen as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Iran’s new spiritual leader on his election.

U.S. President Donald Trump told The Times of Israel on March 8 that the decision on ending the war against Iran would be “mutual” and made together with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During a brief phone interview, Trump also said that without him and Netanyahu, Iran would have destroyed Israel.

“Iran was preparing to destroy Israel and everything around it… We worked together. We destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel,” he said.

Asked whether he would decide alone on ending the war with Iran or whether Netanyahu would also have a say, Trump replied:

“I think it’s mutual… to some extent. We’ve talked. I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything will be taken into account.”

He added that Netanyahu would express his views but that the final decision would be made by the U.S. president.

Asked whether Israel could continue the war against Iran even if the United States halted its strikes, Trump declined to elaborate on that scenario, adding: “I don’t think that will be necessary.”

Trump avoided naming a specific timeline for the war, although White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had earlier said Washington expects it to last four to six weeks.

In his responses to The Times of Israel, Trump also suggested that Netanyahu has significant influence over his decisions regarding the war against Iran, which the United States and Israel launched jointly with strikes on February 28 that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The phone conversation came after Iranian state media reported that the Assembly of Experts had chosen Khamenei’s son Mojtaba as the country’s next supreme leader. Hours earlier, Trump had told ABC News that Iran’s next leader “will not last long” without approval from the White House.

When asked about Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment, Trump declined to comment, saying: “We’ll see what happens.”

Trump also again addressed the ongoing court case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and criticized Israeli President Isaac Herzog for not granting him a pardon.

“Bibi Netanyahu should be pardoned immediately. I think [Herzog] is doing a terrible thing by not doing it. We want Bibi focused on the war, not on a ridiculous pardon issue,” Trump said.

Herzog’s office said the issue of a pardon falls under the president’s authority but is currently under review by the Justice Ministry, which must provide its legal opinion.

The article also noted that relations between Trump and Netanyahu have significantly improved since the 2024 U.S. presidential election, after tensions arose four years earlier when the Israeli prime minister congratulated Joe Biden on his victory.

Trump said he was not surprised by the broad support in Israel for the war against Iran, joking that only his own approval ratings are higher there.

He also suggested that Iran’s weakening could affect Hamas, saying Tehran’s long-standing support for the Palestinian group could decline and potentially make disarmament easier.

“A lot of people will disarm [because of the war against Iran]. Iran is in a situation like it has never been before, and things will only get worse for them,” he said.

At the end of the conversation, Trump repeated his call: “Tell this president to pardon him right now.”

Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the U.S.–Israeli military operation on February 28. A 40-day period of mourning has been declared in the country.