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Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the dominant narrative has settled into a comfortable groove: The United States and Israel stumbled into a war without a plan. Iran is retaliating across the region. Oil prices are surging, and the world is facing another Middle Eastern quagmire. US senators have called it a blunder. Cable news has tallied the crises. Commentators have warned of a long war. The chorus is loud and, in some respects, understandable. War is ugly, and this one has imposed real costs on millions of people across the Middle East, including the city I live in. But...

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is little more than an "empty entity" who is not at the helm of the regime, according to Israeli national security sources. The son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a targeted Israeli strike on Feb. 28, is also linked to what officials describe as a "misfunctioning" regime. "The new leader is an empty entity," Kobi Michael, a defense analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital. "Mojtaba Khamenei does not appear in public, but we also have reliable information that he does not...

WASHINGTON — President Trump was stunned to learn last week that US intelligence indicates new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei may be gay — and that his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, feared his suitability to rule the Islamic Republic for that reason, The Post can reveal. Trump couldn’t contain his surprise and laughed aloud when he was briefed on the intel, according to sources. Others in the room also found it “hilarious” and joined the president’s reaction, while one senior intelligence official “has not stopped laughing about it for days,” said one person familiar with the briefing.

Iran’s Assembly of Experts is set to hold an emergency session on Thursday to formally announce Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of the late Supreme Leader, as the next leader, despite opposition from some members who warn against “hereditary leadership,” Iran International has learned.The meeting comes two days after Iran International reported that the Assembly of Experts had chosen Mojtaba Khamenei as the next Supreme Leader under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards.Two sources from the offices of Assembly of Experts representatives told Iran International that at least eight members will not attend the emergency session on Thursday in protest at what...

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reportedly been appointed Iran's new Supreme Leader. Mojtaba, 56, Ali Khamenei's second oldest son, has strong links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and was chosen by Iran's Assembly of Experts 'under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards', according to Iranian opposition outlet Iran International. Mojtaba is not a high-ranking cleric, has never held office and does not have an official role in the regime. But he served in the Iranian armed forces during the Iran-Iraq war and is believed to wield considerable influence behind the scenes. He has been touted...

Reports from Iran indicate that Mojtaba Khamenei, an Iranian cleric and political figure best known as the second son of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and long discussed as a possible successor, has been killed in the strike on the presidential palace

Unconfirmed reports from Iran say the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, returned his soul to his maker. According to the same reports, an official announcement will be made only after the transfer of powers to his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, are completed. Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei, 81, was the supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei is the longest serving head of state in the Middle East, as well as the second-longest serving Iranian leader of the last century, after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Reports on Saturday suggested that...

The hottest job on the market right now is being the Iranian Ayatollah, but why is everyone suddenly buzzing about it? Here are just eight of the most incredible perks that come with being the new Supreme Leader: Neat hat that can easily hide a bag of Cheetos: Very few jobs out there right now offering Cheeto hats. Free pagers: People will literally just give them to you. Job is secure even if you lose your legs: How many careers can say that? Can issue fatwas against anyone who annoys you: Telemarketer calls during dinner -- fatwa. Falafel truck...

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) says he believes the 2,500 U.S. Marines headed to the Middle East will be used to seize Iran’s Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. On Friday night, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. military “totally obliterated every military target” on Kharg, through which 90% of Iran’s oil exports pass. The president said the island’s oil infrastructure was left intact, but added that if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, he will “reconsider this decision.” Sessions appeared on Tuesday’s CNN News Central, where Kate Bolduan asked the congressman if he would support their deployment in...

TEHRAN — With rumors about his sexual preferences circulating amid the ongoing military conflict ravaging his country, the new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was reportedly disappointed to learn that the 72 virgins awaiting him in paradise were all women. Sources within the regime revealed that the recently chosen supreme leader had called his most trusted Muslim scholars to search the Quran to determine if the 72 virgins awaiting martyrs in paradise had to be female. "You could tell he was pretty bummed," said one insider. "We've all heard the rumors for years, and his father tried to keep it under...

TEHRAN — At President Donald Trump's direction, the U.S. military successfully took out Iran's new gay supreme leader by luring him out of his bunker with a cardboard cutout of Baywatch star David Hasselhoff. As part of Operation Hot Hoff, SEAL Team Six reportedly trained night and day for weeks ahead of a planned ground incursion in which they strategically set up a cardboard cutout of David Hasselhoff designed to look lost and in need of male companionship. It was only a matter of time before Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who sources indicated was gay, fell for the devious trap and...

Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island. Our Weapons are the most powerful and sophisticated that the World has ever known but, for reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision. During my...

Khamenei's ability to govern questioned after injuries U.S. strikes target Iran's missile, drone capabilities Hegseth vows no mercy, reshapes military justice system Iranian drones reported in Kuwait, Iraq, UAE, Bahrain, Oman Six U.S. service members die in Iraq aircraft crash WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is wounded ‌and likely disfigured, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday, questioning Khamenei's ability to govern after nearly two weeks of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. No images have been released of Khamenei since an Israeli strike at the start of the war that killed much...

For decades, the United States and its allies have been gaming out what a full-scale war against the Islamic Republic of Iran would look like. As recently as 2020, in the immediate aftermath of the airstrike that neutralized Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani, mainstream and center-left media outlets summarized the forecasts of American war planners. Their conclusions were sobering. In a war that the Iranian regime sees as existential, Tehran could be expected to pull out all the stops. “Iran’s vast network of proxies” would be activated. American and European civilians would be targets, as would vulnerable U.S....

Iran’s new Supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei released his first statement Thursday vowing to use the “lever” of closing the Strait of Hormuz to international energy shipping — after reports circulated that he was in a coma and had his leg amputated after being severely injured in the US-Israeli strikes that killed his father and other family members. The lengthy message was read out on Iranian state TV by an anchor as an image of Khamenei was displayed on screen, a break from tradition. No explanation was given for why the 56-year-old did not appear in the flesh, with experts suggesting...

“World War III” is not a phrase to be casually tossed around, yet declaring its impending eruption has become a staple of political punditry. The current war in the Middle East is no different. The British media has debated how their country could get sucked into World War III if it allowed U.S. aircraft to use British air bases on their way to bomb Iran. In 2022 and 2023, figures including John Mearsheimer, Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk warned that helping Ukraine fight Russia would set off a global conflagration. A recent poll conducted by Politico found that a majority...

Global energy markets are bracing for a potential supply shock after Iran’s new Supreme Leader vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed while attacks on commercial ships intensified across the Persian Gulf. In his first public comments since taking power, Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a stark warning about the future of the conflict and the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz.Khamenei said Thursday that the maritime corridor must remain closed as leverage against Iran’s enemies.“The closure of the Strait of Hormuz should continue as a tool to pressure the enemy,” he said in televised...

During the first hour of Operation Epic Fury, Iran's Islamic government was obliterated. An Israeli airstrike struck a leadership meeting at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's compound in Tehran around 8 a.m. (Tehran time) on February 28. Not only was Khameini killed, but the casualty list included about 40 other senior officials who could reasonably be in the line of succession. In fact, it seems as though the mullahs have elected one of the victims of the airstrike, Mojtaba Khamenei, as their Grand Poohbah. He hasn't been seen (White House Trolls Iran As Regime Tries to Hide ‘Supreme Leader’ Condition – RedState)...

Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was a no-show at his own succession rally in Tehran — and observers speculate that he’s either wounded or hiding out in fear. As thousands gathered on Monday to celebrate Khamenei’s appointment as the country’s new supreme leader, the nepo-baby mullah was represented by a mere portrait — one that was half the size of dad Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s. The portrait of the dead leader took up the center of the stage, according to state media footage of the event. “It’s either he’s out cold in a hospital, or he’s scared and hiding...

Trump is telling people that he’s gay. This is worth taking seriously as a strategic communication rather than dismissing it as provocation or noise. If Trump is circulating the claim that Mojtaba Khamenei is gay, the first question Alliance Theory asks is what coalition function that claim serves. It is not primarily an intelligence disclosure. It is a weapon designed to operate inside the Islamic Republic’s own internal coalition logic. The Islamic Republic’s legitimacy rests on a specific architecture of moral authority. The Supreme Leader is not just a political figure. He is the Vali-e Faqih, the guardian jurist, the...