ADVERTISEMENT
Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has used his first public statement since taking power to signal that Tehran is not preparing to moderate its position after the death of his father, but instead intends to keep up pressure on the United States, Israel and Washington’s regional allies as a widening conflict pushes the Middle East deeper into crisis. The message, delivered on Iranian state television by a presenter rather than by Khamenei himself, was closely watched because the 56-year-old cleric has not appeared publicly since being chosen by a clerical assembly following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the first wave of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
ADVERTISEMENT
