The reasons for the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei connect with Shia Twelver culture in two ways.
The first is illustrated by the tearful breakdown of an Iranian news anchor: (CNN) State TV presenter cries while announcing the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei’s first name, Ali, honors Husayn ibn Ali, the third Imam, or spiritual leader, of Shia Islam.
The tearful breakdown was at least culturally lubricated by the commemorations of Ashura. Quoting Wikipedia,
By contrast, for Shia Muslims, Ashura is a day of mourning as they annually commemorate the death of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the third Shia imam.
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The main component of ritual ceremonies (majalis, sg. majlis) is the narration of the stories of Karbala (rawza-khwani, qiraya),[46][29][26] and the recitation of elegies and dirges (nawha, niyaha, marsia-khwani),[47][48] all intended to raise the sympathy of audience and move them to tears.[49]
This is on the mild side, with informal competitions among pious Iranians at who can cry the most and make their audiences cry the most. The object is to make it seem as if it happened yesterday. Others, particularly at Karbala, engage in mostly banned self flagellation and mutilation. This is why the TV anchor cried. It Indicates a level of cultural habituation that must be considered in predictions of Iranian actions.
The state religion of Iran is Twelver Shia Islam. This religion maintains that, at all times, God has a personal representative on earth. There have been twelve so far. The first eleven were all assassinated, their fates replicated by Ali Khameini. Shi’ism incorporates elements seen in other mystic religions, blurring the lines of physical reality. The twelfth Imam, evading the fate of his predecessors, manifests in a mystic outcome. Quoting Muhammad al-Mahdi,
Hasan al-Askari, the eleventh Imam, died in AH 260 (873–874), possibly poisoned by the Abbasids. Immediately after his death, his main representative, Uthman ibn Sa’id al-Asadi, claimed that the eleventh Imam had an infant son named Muhammad, who was kept hidden from the public out of fear of Abbasid persecution. Uthman also claimed to represent Muhammad, who had entered a state of occultation.
“Occultation” means that that the twelfth Imam is here, but invisible. In a tone similar to Christian beliefs, the pious believe Muhammad will reappear at an unspecified future date. The vitality of this belief is demonstrated by the fall of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who challenged the clergy by asserting that he was in communication with the occulted Imam. This myth is actively available for popular manipulation of the image of what pious Iranians see as the next best thing to the twelfth Imam, namely, the Supreme Leader.
The analogies are obvious. Mojtaba Khamenei is the son of an “Ali”; all of the twelve Imams except the last have “Ali” as part of their names. Ali Khameini is a descendant of the aforementioned Imam, Husayn ibn Ali, which gives Mojtaba the blood. He isn’t too bright, but that doesn’t matter, since he is in a coma. He can’t talk, see, or hear, which is highly compatible with occultation. Through the concept of occultation, pious Iranians are culturally habituated to a leader who is chronically invisible. And Mojtaba is bomb-proof.
This is the perfect solution for the IRG, who appear to be running the show. Mojtaba is the perfect puppet. In the near future, the miracle of AI may endow him with a new head, body, and voice. In the meantime, this tried-and-true method will work:
***Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy***