By Sam Barron | Monday, 09 March 2026 06:51 PM EDT
Yechiel “Michael” Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, stated Monday that Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader of Iran, will just be like his father.
“This is a terrorist regime that peddles in terror and contraband,” Leiter said. “This Mojtaba fellow is very much involved in illicit trade.”
Leiter also blasted Europe for not doing enough to constrain Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“Europe has lost its way,” Leiter stated. “They refuse to identify evil as evil.”
“They refuse to identify the Iranian regime, this Ayatollah clerical regime, this tyranny that has killed so many people and exported terror, as evil,” Leiter added.
“That’s really what this entire operation is about,” Leiter continued. “We’re eliminating a terrorist regime that has spread murder and mayhem throughout the Middle East and would continue to spread it farther beyond the Middle East, to Europe and the United States.”
Leiter said Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed last week, has blood on his hands.
“There’s no reason to assume he’s any different,” Leiter stated. “He’s deeply involved with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”
“He’s deeply involved with actually giving orders two months ago to slaughter Iranians who were demonstrating in the street against their government that has had a boot of repression on their necks now for 47 years,” Leiter added.
“We have to see these cracks that have developed within the edifice of their security and military structure develop into chasms,” Leiter continued. “The cracks are there. We’ve knocked out much of the leadership of the IRGC. They’re not out and done yet.”
Leiter said different units of the IRGC are beginning to turn on each other and he believes the regime’s changes are coming.
“We know that 80% of the Iranian people are opposed to this regime,” Leiter stated. “They just haven’t been able to coalesce, to unite in order to shake off the yoke of this regime.”
“We see signs now of this regime cracking up,” Leiter added. “We do see signs that the opposition is coming together. Now they’re sensing that this is their opportunity, and they’re starting to coalesce. We hope to see it through.”
