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Andrew England: Financial Times Middle East Editor explains who Mojtaba Khamenei is · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Around appointed much Tobat Harmony, the son of the late
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Supreme Leader who was killed in UIs Israeli strikes. As
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the new Supreme Leader, fifty six years old, kept a
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: very low profile. Andrew England, as the Financial Times Middle
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: East editor joins US Live this morning, Andrew, this doesn't
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  Speaker 1: sound much like a big change or regime change. Is
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  Speaker 1: what's this guy going to be?
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  Speaker 2: Like?
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  Speaker 1: Do we know?
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  Speaker 3: No, I mean, we know very little about him. But
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  Speaker 3: what we do know is he's probably going to be
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  Speaker 3: a continuation of his father, who is in power for
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  Speaker 3: nearly four decades. That means a hardline, hostile attitude towards
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: the US, towards Israel, towards the West more generally. And
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: let's remember that, you know, last week the Americans and
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  Speaker 3: israelis bomb Supreme Leader his father's compound killed mushta Bar's father,
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  Speaker 3: his mother, his wife, his sister. So you know, he's
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: probably got a lot of hostility in him. So what
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  Speaker 3: we've seen is one how many replaced another Hamony just
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  Speaker 3: this is a younger version, potentially a more hawkish version.
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  Speaker 3: We just don't know yet because we don't know enough
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  Speaker 3: about him. Like you said, he's kind of kept a
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  Speaker 3: very low profile over the years.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: There's talk that people haven't even heard his voice. We
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  Speaker 1: don't even know what he sounds like. He's a low profile.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, there's one recording of his voice, and they the
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  Speaker 3: Iranian media has put out footage of him back in
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  Speaker 3: the eighties during the Irana Rock War when he's with
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  Speaker 3: what looks like members of the elite Revolutionary Guards and
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  Speaker 3: he's close to Revenuetion Guards.
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  Speaker 2: But you know, he's had no formal position.
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  Speaker 3: We know that he was close to his father, the
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  Speaker 3: Supreme lead to Ali I told Ali Haromeni, and sort
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: of worked in his office, but he had no formal position.
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: He hasn't spoken, he hasn't hasn't given a statement. We
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  Speaker 3: haven't heard from him since the war started. We don't
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  Speaker 3: know where he is and we don't really know what
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: the fate of it is. We don't know if he
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  Speaker 3: was in that compound, you know, if he's wounded, if
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  Speaker 3: he's fit and healthy.
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  Speaker 2: We just really don't know.
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  Speaker 1: He's obviously got a target on his back. Now, I
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  Speaker 1: doesn't thin because the Israelies as say they want to
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  Speaker 1: get rid of them in.
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  Speaker 2: The absolutely now no, I mean, you know, possibly the Americans.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, Trump was asked about Mochedaba the other day
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  Speaker 3: and he called him a lightweight. He said that he
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  Speaker 3: wants to approve the appointment of a new leader. He's
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: said he's worn that, you know, a new leader without
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  Speaker 3: his approval won't last long. These Raelis have suggested that
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: they would assassinate a new leader. Trump said he's that
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  Speaker 3: the American and Israeli strikes have killed forty nine leaders.
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  Speaker 3: So certainly given that he's, you know, an extension of
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  Speaker 3: his father, an extension of the regime, and it's a
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  Speaker 3: sign that the regime is doubling down.
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  Speaker 2: It's showing that it's defined.
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  Speaker 3: It's kind of stuck its finger up to Trump and
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  Speaker 3: showing that, you know, everyone's reading this, this is going
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  Speaker 3: to continue to resist and fight back in this For
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  Speaker 3: then obviously he's going to be reassume that he's going
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  Speaker 3: to be a prime target.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, they're also saying they can do six months of
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  Speaker 1: this dance at this pace of bombing. Is that bluster
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  Speaker 1: or are they serious?
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  Speaker 2: Six months?
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  Speaker 1: The Americans or the Iranians, Sorry.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: We don't know.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, look, obviously they're taking an absolute pounding that's
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: been intense bombing. They've got blistic missiles which require missile launches,
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  Speaker 3: and you can have as many missiles as you like,
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  Speaker 3: but if you don't have the launches, then the missiles
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  Speaker 3: are no good. And we can assume, and these readies
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  Speaker 3: have been saying this that a lot of their.
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  Speaker 2: Launches have been hit.
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  Speaker 3: They also have drones which they've been firing across the gulf,
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  Speaker 3: and this is what's pushed up with all prices.
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  Speaker 2: They have a lot of drones.
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  Speaker 3: You don't need launches to do those. So, you know,
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  Speaker 3: we don't know how long they can stain it because
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  Speaker 3: we don't know the full degree of their arsenals. We
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: don't know the full degree of damage. But you've got
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  Speaker 3: to remember, from the Islamic Gene's perspective, endurance is a victory.
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  Speaker 2: Survival is victory.
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  Speaker 3: And as long as they can continue firing and missile
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  Speaker 3: here and a drone there and survive this onslought from
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  Speaker 3: you know the world's most powerful army to them, that
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  Speaker 3: will be victory.
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  Speaker 2: So in some ways it's kind of a war of endurance.
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  Speaker 1: Andrew, appreciate your analysis this morning, Andrew England, Financial Times
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  Speaker 1: Middle East Editor.
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  Speaker 2: It is for more from early edition with Ryan Bridge.
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