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A nationwide ceremony will be held in Iran today at 3:00 p.m. local time for citizens to pledge loyalty to the country’s new Supreme Leader, Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, AzerNEWS reports, citing Trend.

According to the Islamic Propagation Coordination Council, events will take place in cities across the country, and all Iranian citizens have been invited to participate.

On March 8, the Assembly of Experts elected Mojtaba Khamenei by majority vote as Iran’s third Supreme Leader. He is the son of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 during military airstrikes carried out by the United States and Israel.

Earlier tensions had escalated after the second round of nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran on February 17 ended without progress. Following the failed negotiations, the United States increased its military presence near Iran, deploying more than 150 aircraft to bases in Europe and the Middle East.

On February 26, a third round of negotiations between Iran and the United States on Iran’s nuclear program was held in Geneva. The meeting, which took place during the administration of Donald Trump, was widely viewed as the last opportunity to resolve the crisis through diplomacy.

However, no concrete agreements were reached. Tehran refused to halt uranium enrichment, dismantle nuclear facilities, or accept indefinite restrictions on its nuclear program.

In the early hours of February 28, Israel and the United States launched military airstrikes on Iran.

During the attacks, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several members of his family were killed. Among other senior officials reportedly killed in the strikes were: Abdolrahim Mousavi, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces; Mohammad Pakpour, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); Ali Shamkhani, adviser to the Supreme Leader and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council; Aziz Nasirzadeh, Iran’s Minister of Defense.