00:00I'd like to start by asking about the appointment of Mojtabah Khamenei, who has replaced his father
00:05as supreme leader. What message do you see Iran sending the United States, and for that matter,
00:12the rest of the world with this appointment? This is a guy who's known as being extremely
00:17hardline. He is the patron of the Peidari faction. He holds about a quarter of the seats in the
00:25parliament, which is known for its extreme positions. So, for instance, they pushed for
00:31revising the law about hijab women have to wear to be tougher and tougher penalties over considerable
00:39opposition from others within the system. And Mojtabah is also a rather secretive kind of guy.
00:45After the 2009 protests about the presidential election that year, when people were blaming
00:52Mojtabah for being responsible for much of the repression, we tried at my institute to find
00:57pictures of him, and we couldn't. There were just no photos of him available. So this is a guy whose
01:02voice has probably not been heard by most Iranians. He's not been a public figure. He's exercised power
01:08in the shadows. And he's not somebody who inspires confidence on the part of people. He's not someone
01:15who's a dramatic speaker like his father.
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