New York Times Podcasts
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Chosen by War: The Rise of Iran’s New Supreme Leader
Posted
March 17, 2026
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33:55Now PlayingAt the heart of the Iranian regime’s defiant stance toward the United States and Israel in the war is Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader and a son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the regime’s longtime ruler.
Farnaz Fassihi, who covers Iran for The New York Times, discusses the extraordinary jockeying that led to his selection and whether the United States and Israel helped motivate Iran to replace one hard-line leader with another.
GuestFarnaz Fassihi () , the United Nations bureau chief for The New York Times. She also covers Iran and how countries around the world deal with conflicts in the Middle East.
Background reading:
• Inside the deliberations, power plays and rivalries that led to the ascension of the younger Khamenei () .
• Who is Iran’s new supreme leader () ?
Photo: Saeid Zareian/picture-alliance/dpa, via Associated Press Images
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