Iran state TV says new supreme leader to be announced soon

Iran’s state television on Sunday said the country's new supreme leader will be announced soon.

“The third leader of the Islamic Republic will be announced soon,” the news channel of Iran’s state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), said in a ticker.

Iran International reported on Tuesday, that the Assembly of Experts had selected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, as the next leader under pressure from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Five days later, the Assembly of Experts has yet to publicly announce the choice.

In recent days, some members of the Assembly of Experts denied that Mojtaba Khamenei had been selected and said a decision on the next leader had not yet been made.

Sources told Iran International that the delay in announcing the new supreme leader was partly due to opposition from some Assembly of Experts members who warned they would openly oppose Mojtaba Khamenei’s selection, saying some internal procedures of the body had not been followed.