CNN
Four days after his appointment as Iran’s new supreme leader, the world finally got a glimpse of Mojtaba Khamenei’s worldview.
But Khamenei – now elevated to the rank of Ayatollah and dubbed the “exalted leader” of the Islamic Revolution by his acolytes – didn’t appear on video or release an audio statement.
Instead, he purportedly issued a lengthy written message which was then read out on state television, outlining his views on the trajectory of the war, praising Iran’s armed forces and demanding reparations from those who have attacked his country.
The message was quickly disseminated through a new Telegram channel created by his office. It was laden with coded symbolism meant to appeal to his base and underlined with the release of an image of three handwriting samples — one from the first Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, one from the slain Ali Khamenei, and one from the son himself.
The message was clear: a new era was beginning, and its leader was positioning himself as the rightful heir to those who came before him.
According to the statement, Khamenei learned of his appointment from state television, suggesting he too was caught by surprise. He also used flowery language to describe his late father, saying he was able to see his dead body after his death – his fist clenched in what he said was a final sign of resistance. The elder Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes at the start of the war.
Khamenei’s message was filled with the usual bombastic rhetoric: lauding the “resistance front,” code for Iran’s badly depleted proxy network and calling on neighboring countries to shut down US bases while threatening to continue targeting US interests in the region.
In comments that further rattled unsettled markets, he doubled down on keeping the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil route, closed to global trade.
‘Threats and bravado’
Thrust into the glare of leadership after years operating in the shadows, Khamenei used the message to outline his policies, which sound very familiar to his father’s.
“Your departure has left a deep wound in hearts… Many people did not recognize your true value. Perhaps years will pass before all the veils are lifted,” he said in his statement in reference to his father.
Khamenei offered no off-ramp for an immediate cessation of violence nor did he elaborate on what would an acceptable outcome for Tehran would look like, instead promising that “revenge” for those killed is a “file that will remain open.”
The message from Khamenei includes no promise of reform and no indication that he intends to “abandon any of his father’s core policies,” Iran analyst Arash Azizi told CNN, adding that it gives “very little hope to Iranians for a better future.”
“It is instead full of threats and bravado, including the hackneyed threat of the attempt to destroy Israel and forcing the US bases out of the region. In short, it offers Iranians and Iran’s neighbors in the region nothing short of eternal strife,” Azizi added.
But the central question remains unanswered: the Iranian public and the wider world have still not seen or heard from the new leader, who was reportedly wounded in the opening days of the war.
While the statement may satisfy his base, it does little to answer who is truly calling the shots.
The idea is to project defiance, Dina Esfandiary, Middle East lead for Bloomberg Economics based in Geneva told CNN’s Becky Anderson.
“Clearly Iran showing that it isn’t seeking a ceasefire or an end to a war and that it believes it hasn’t exacted enough of a price on the US and its allies and even the global economy,” She added. “To me, it looks like things are going to continue.”
