Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is clearly no more moderate than his slain father, and intends to press forward toward the goal of destroying Israel.

In a written statement issued for the Hajj pilgrimage, Khamenei called on Muslims around the world to make “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” the common chants of the Islamic world, signaling that apocalyptic demagoguery continues to be the official state policy of the Islamic Republic.

The language was familiar because the ideology is unchanged. Israel was described as a “cancerous tumor” nearing the end of its existence. America was again cast as the “Great Satan.” Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and other Iranian-backed forces were praised as part of a victorious “resistance front.”

So much for the fantasy of a softer Iran in the aftermath of Ali Khamenei’s demise.

The son has inherited the father’s vocabulary, enemies, and dangerous obsessions. His first instinct is not reform, not rebuilding, not peace for the Iranian people, but the same project of regional and global subjugation that has bled the nation for decades: encircle Israel, arm proxies, threaten America, and call it divine victory.

As the Trump administration continues diplomatic efforts with Tehran, Mojtaba Khamenei is telling the Muslim world exactly what the regime believes. The West may speak of frameworks, language, and documents. Tehran is speaking of destruction.

This is the central problem with the Iranian regime. Its hostility toward Israel is not a policy disagreement. It is foundational, theological,  civilizational.

Israel has moved beyond dismissing such threats as mere rhetoric. Washington must do the same.

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