IRDC.IR: Ayatollah Khamenei was chosen as the successor of Imam Khomeini, as the Supreme Leader of Islamic Republic of Iran, the foreign media were surprised by the quick specific decision of the Assembly of Experts, they started to question the legitimacy, legality and acceptability of the 1989 election of Assembly of Experts.
Foreign media, which expressed the last days of Imam's life as complicated days with conflicts and challenges, were surprised by this quick choice, its supporters and the solidarity afterwards, and the chosen leader himself.
BBC believed that the promptitude of the Assembly of Experts was a big step for Islamic Republic after Imam, which prevented the expected crisis of Imam Khomeini's succession.
VOA said: "It was anticipated that a council of 3-5 people will be the successor of Khomeini".
Reuters wrote: "Tehran has been so mature and clear up to now".
Baqer Moein, BBC analyst, confessed thay Ayatollah Khamenei was Iran's best option for the leadership: "Among the Clerics who are Mujtahid but not Marja', the only person with political experience who is accepted by Ayatollah Khomeini’s supporters, is Ayatollah Khamenei. Ayatollah Meshkini, Hashemi, Mahdavi Kani and Mousavi Ardabili were the other options but none of them had Ayatollah Khamenei's experience as the president, moreover, he is beyond the others in knowledge and expertise".
Associated Press called Ayatollah Khamenei "a favored president with political honesty.
Iran going for moderation
Associated Press called Ayatollah Khamenei "The poet president " and "a cleric with a gentle tune". Washington Post published two articles about Iran's new leadership. "Ayatollah Khamenei is a reconsiler". The foreign analysts believed Ayatollah Hashemi was also in this with him.
In June 8 1989, Solmaz Dabiri from BBC said: "If things go right constantly for the next few months, Ayatollah Khamenei and Ayatollah Hashemi will bring Iran's policies into a more moderate path".
Daily Telegraph also said that choosing Ayatollah Khamenei was the sign of the moderates' power which would isolate the radicals under Mr. Ahmad Khomeini's leadership.
News Week described Ayatollah Khamenei as a "quiet man and thoughtfull intellectual" who believes in political moderation such as Mr. Rafsanjani. News Week assumed that Iran's new leaders would be eager to have relations with Western companies and governments and support the private sector.
The Mainichi from Japan, published a note which considered the immediate action as the factor which got Iran out of political disorientation, and described the situation with Ayatollah Khamenei as the Supreme Leader and Ayatollah Rafsanjani as the probable president, as "the realist conservative party" taking the place of radicals.
Questioning the leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei
Days after he was chosen by the Assembly of Experts, foreign media started to question the choise.
United Press, qouted from regional analysts that according to the constitutional law, the leader must be a top Marja' or an Ayatollah while Khamenei has a lower rank and is a Hojatoleslam.
After the assembly in Mordad, with Ayatollah Khamenei's reconfirmation, Le monde questioned Imam's letter to Ayatollah Meshkini and claimed that the assembly was held because his leadership was not in accord with the 3rd and 107th principles of the constitution.
The media also claimed that the choise woud result in lots of conflicts and struggles and important figures would not accept it. Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's detheoned king, said in a TV interview in France: "The election of Khamenei is a new failure in the war of Khomeini’s succession and none of the Marja's would obey him".
The domestic media and analysts were surprised by such analysis, and they would think "How is that every cleric here believes that Ayatollah Khamenei is a must-obey, but the foreign media is doubting that".
