Iranians Rally in Support of New Leader Mojtaba Khamenei; Many Remain Skeptical

Thousands rallied in Iran in support of the country's newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, on Monday, though many others are opposed to his rule.

The Details: Authorities called for public assemblies in major squares and streets across the country ahead of the demonstrations. BBC News (Center bias) reported that Iranian media published videos showing rallies in Tehran, Bojnurd, Tabriz, Zanjan, Kerman, Khorramabad, Mashhad, Bushehr, Yazd, Qom, and Ilam. According to DW News (Center), Iranian state media reported "hundreds of thousands" turned out to demonstrate. BBC also quoted citizens in Tehran who criticized the new leader, and highlighted videos on social media of people chanting "Death to Mojtaba."

Key Quote: A video posted by Qatari-funded Al Jazeera (Lean Left) showed a demonstrator in Tehran, who said in English, "They killed the old Khamenei. Now, what has happened, the young Khamenei has taken his place. And what is he promising to the world, to our people in Iran? That we are going to defend our sovereignty. We are going to defend our liberty."

For Context: Previously, mainstream American outlets were slow to cover reports from Iranian state media that the US and Israel had killed over 175 people in the bombing of a school in Iran. Once they did, most outlets treated the claims with caution. New Western reports have suggested the US was likely responsible for the bombing. Mainstream Western outlets also widely covered celebrations abroad regarding the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but downplayed reports of mourning from within Iran. Surveys suggest the majority of Iranian citizens oppose the current regime.

How The Media Covered It: The rallies in Iran were covered by several international Western outlets, but very scarcely by the US media. The only US outlet AllSides found coverage from was Christian Science Monitor (Center), which mentioned the street demonstrations briefly in a wider analysis on support for Mojtaba. Forbes (Center) and Boston's local CBS affiliate reposted videos of the demonstrations on YouTube. Israeli outlet The Times of Israel (Center) republished very short wire coverage from AFP. Al Jazeera shared video reporting, but not print coverage. AllSides did not find coverage from the right, but Daily Mail (Lean Right) shared a video on Facebook.

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary. Updated 3/11/26 at 9:32am ET with more detail on opposition to Mojtaba Khamenei.