Trump Warns Mojtaba Khamenei Won’t Last Long as Iran’s Supreme Leader Without US Approval

The war with Iran has dragged into its 10th day, and things just got more complicated. Iran’s powerful clerics have named Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the new Supreme Leader. This comes after Ali Khamenei and several top officials were killed in those early U.S.-Israeli airstrikes that kicked off the conflict.

Mojtaba has always operated in the shadows during his father’s long rule, pulling strings behind the scenes with close ties to the Revolutionary Guard. His appointment feels like a clear signal from Iran’s hardliners: they’re digging in, not backing down.

Right after the news broke, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi came out strong, saying, “We pledge that, in defense of the rights of the great Iranian nation, the advancement of national interests and security, and the realization of the lofty goals of the Islamic Revolution, we shall not falter for a moment.”

The defense council doubled down too: “We will obey the commander-in-chief until the last drop of our blood.”

That kind of rhetoric stands in total contrast to what President Trump has been demanding—an unconditional surrender from Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed that line over the weekend, insisting Iran has “no choice” but to fold.

But with Mojtaba now in charge, experts are saying any hope for a softer, more reform-minded Iran—like the kind of changes Saudi Arabia’s crown prince pushed—has basically vanished. One analyst put it bluntly to TIME: if there was even a slim chance Mojtaba might open up to détente with the U.S., it’s gone now. The guy lost his father, his mother, his wife, and one of his children in those same strikes. That kind of personal devastation has apparently left him burning for revenge.

Mojtaba’s rise also directly ignores Trump’s repeated warnings that the U.S. needs to have a say in who takes over. Back when rumors were swirling about Mojtaba being the frontrunner, Trump told TIME, “I’m not going through this to end up with another Khamenei. They can select, but we have to make sure it’s somebody that’s reasonable to the United States.”

Trump has been vocal about this for days. He called Mojtaba an “unacceptable” choice in an interview with Axios, saying, “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.” He even compared it to how things played out in Venezuela after Nicolás Maduro’s fall, insisting he needs to be involved in picking the right person so the U.S. doesn’t have to “go back every five years and do this again and again.”

He described Mojtaba as a “lightweight” and said Iran is just “wasting” time on him. Trump stressed he wants a leader who’d be “great for the people, great for the country.”

After the official announcement, Trump reportedly told Fox News he’s “not happy” about it all. On Sunday, speaking to ABC News, he went further, warning that any new leader without U.S. approval “is not going to last long.” He repeated, “He’s going to have to get approval from us. If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long,” and added that the goal is to avoid repeating these cycles in the future—especially without “a President like me that’s not going to do it.”

The war’s progress? Trump has said it’s “moving along ahead of schedule, and much stronger than anybody would have ever expected,” but he hasn’t given any real timeline for when it might wrap up.

This move by Iran looks like a bold act of defiance, and it’s only ramping up the stakes in an already explosive situation.