Iran’s parliament speaker pledges loyalty to Mojtaba Khamenei

Iran’s Assembly of Experts announced in a statement on Sunday that Mojtaba Khamenei has been chosen as the country’s new supreme leader, days after Iran International first reported on Tuesday that the Assembly of Experts had selected him under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards.

“In today’s extraordinary session, the Assembly of Experts, by the decisive vote of its members, selected and introduced Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the body said in a statement.

“In conclusion… (the Assembly) calls on the noble people of Iran, especially the elites and intellectuals of the seminaries and universities, to pledge allegiance to the leadership and preserve unity around the axis of guardianship,” it added.

Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi called on Australia to ensure the safety of members of Iran’s women’s national football team, saying they face pressure and threats after refusing to sing the Islamic Republic's national anthem during the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.

“The members of the Iranian Women’s National Football Team are under significant pressure and ongoing threat from the Islamic Republic,” Pahlavi said in a post on X.

“As a result of their brave act of civil disobedience in refusing to sing the current regime’s national anthem, they face dire consequences should they return to Iran. I call on the Australian government to ensure their safety and give them any and all needed support,” he added.

The US military said the seventh US service member killed in action during operations against Iran had died from injuries sustained in an Iranian attack on US troops in Saudi Arabia.

“Last night, a US service member passed away from injuries received during the Iranian regime’s initial attacks across the Middle East,” the US Central Command said in a statement.

"The service member was seriously wounded at the scene of an attack on US troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on March 1. This is the seventh service member killed in action during Operation Epic Fury," the statement added

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.

Egypt’s foreign minister called for the formation of a joint Arab force to protect Arab states’ sovereignty following Iran’s attacks on neighboring Arab countries, during an emergency Arab League meeting chaired by the United Arab Emirates, the foreign ministry said.

“The Foreign Minister noted the importance of activating the concept of Arab national security to preserve the security of Arab countries and protect their sovereignty,” Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty said during a virtual meeting of the Arab League council at the ministerial level on Sunday, according to a foreign ministry statement.

“(He) pointed in this context to the need to activate frameworks for joint Arab cooperation to effectively deal with existing threats, including the formation of a joint Arab force,” the statement added.