TEHRAN, March 9. /TASS/. The Assembly of Experts in Iran has elected Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, the state broadcaster reported referring to the assembly’s statement.

"At today's extraordinary meeting, Ayatollah Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei was unanimously elected by the distinguished representatives of the Assembly of Experts as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran," the statement says.

Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei is the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Media outlets had previously named him the most likely candidate. According to some reports, the candidacy of 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamenei was contested and criticized as an undesirable example of dynastic succession in a system based on revolutionary principles.