Iran's Assembly of Experts announces Mojtaba Khamenei as new supreme leader

Tehran (AFP)

Iran's Assembly of Experts announced Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's new supreme leader on Sunday night.

In a lengthy statement, the assembly said that "after careful and extensive studies... in today's extraordinary session, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei (may Allah protect him) is appointed and introduced as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the decisive vote of the respected representatives of the Assembly of Experts".

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a US-Israeli strike at ​the start of the conflict, now in its second week.