Continuity over change seen in cleric whom analysts anticipate could double down on policies against the US and Israel
4-MIN READ4-MIN1 ListenOrange WangandShi JiangtaoPublished: 9:15pm, 10 Mar 2026Updated: 9:39pm, 10 Mar 2026Chinese analysts expect Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, to continue and possibly harden his assassinated father’s policies towards the US and Israel.The appointment of the 56-year-old cleric could signal a sense of continuity inside Iran, as well as stabilise ties between Beijing and Tehran, the analysts added.
Personal and national grievances could drive Khamenei to maintain his father’s hardline stance towards the United States and Israel, according to Zhou Rong, director of the Global South Countries Studies Centre at the Beijing-based think tank Grandview Institution.
“He may even be tougher because he is young,” Zhou added.
