Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader?

Iran's Assembly of Experts has chosen Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's new supreme leader, state media reports.

Born on September 8, 1969 in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Mojtaba is the second of Ali Khamenei's six children.

He received his secondary education at the religious Alavi School in Tehran.

At age 17, Mojtaba served in the military for several short periods during the Iran-Iraq War, according to Iranian media. The eight-year bloody conflict made the regime even more suspicious of the US and the West, which supported Iraq.

In 1999, Mojtaba went to Qom, a holy city which is considered an important centre of Shia theology, to continue his religious studies. It is notable that he did not wear clerical clothing until this time.

Unlike his father, Mojtaba has largely kept a low profile. He has never held any government office, nor has he given public speeches or interviews. Only a limited number of photos and videos of him have been published.

However, there are longstanding rumours about his influence as a gatekeeper to his father.

US diplomatic cables, which were published by WikiLeaks in the late 2000s, described him as "the power behind the robes" who was widely regarded as a "capable and forceful leader" within the regime, according to the Associated Press.

A statement from the Assembly of Experts was read aloud by the presenter on state TV:

“Despite the acute wartime conditions and the direct threats of the enemies against this popular institution, and despite the bombing of the offices of the Secretariat of the Assembly of Experts, which resulted in the martyrdom of several staff members and members of its security team, did not pause even for a moment in the process of selecting and introducing the leadership of the Islamic system.”

The presenter then shouted “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Khamenei is the leader.”

He was known as his father’s gatekeeper so he must have known a great deal of what was going on inside the regime.

Mojtaba Khamenei was someone who was essentially in the office, even if he wasn’t in the right chair, he’s now behind the desk.

Over the past week, and again earlier today, US President Donald Trump said he wanted to play a role in the selection of the new Iranian supreme leader.

While he signalled he would be open to someone linked to the old leadership taking over, he made clear his opposition to that someone being Mojtaba Khamenei - who's just been confirmed as his father's successor.

"Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me," Trump said earlier this week. And only a few hours ago, he said that, without his approval, whoever takes over is "not going to last long".

Israel issued a warning before Khamenei's second son was confirmed as the new supreme leader - saying that they will "continue to pursue every successor" to the late ayatollah.