Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Monday congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his appointment as Iran’s new supreme leader.

In a statement released by Al-Sudani’s media office, the premier expressed “confidence in the ability of the new leadership in the Islamic Republic of Iran to manage this critical stage,” and to move forward in strengthening the unity of the Iranian people in “confronting the current challenges.”  Al-Sudani also reaffirmed Iraq’s solidarity with Iran, saying Baghdad supports all steps aimed at ending the conflict, and rejecting military operations against Iran’s sovereignty, “in a manner that preserves the stability of the countries of the region and the security of its brotherly peoples.”

Iran decided on Sunday to appoint Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new Supreme Leader, succeeding his father, Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in US and Israeli strikes. The appointment makes him the third person to hold the post since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.