Boyd Erman

Scottie Barnes guards the Jokic post-up and blocks him 1-on-1 WOW

(Reuters) - Analysts say Iran's choice of Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father as Supreme Leader locks hardliners firmly in control in Tehran. Mojtaba is a deeply hardline cleric whose father, wife, mother and other family members were also killed in U.S.–Israeli strikes - sends an unequivocal message: Iran’s leadership has rejected any prospect of compromise to preserve the system and sees no path forward except confrontation, revenge and endurance. According to insiders, Mojtaba will face immense internal and external strain from a disaffected population and an escalating conflict, but is expected to move swiftly to consolidate power. That will likely mean expanded authority for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, harsher domestic controls and sweeping repression to crush dissent. "The world will miss the era of his father," a regional official close to Tehran told Reuters. "Mojtaba will have no choice but to show an iron fist... even if the war ends, there will be severe internal repression." That stance comes after months of deepening domestic unrest - the bloodiest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution - that had already weakened the Islamic Republic before the war began. Iran was grappling with a battered economy, soaring inflation, currency collapse and widening poverty, alongside tightening repression that had fuelled public anger and protests - pressures now likely to intensify under wartime rule.