- Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen as Iran's Supreme Leader on March 8, 2026
- He succeeds his father, Ali Khamenei, after the latter was assassinated in coordinated US-Israel strikes
- Iranian actor Elnaaz Nourozi highlighted 47 years of non-democratic rule in Iran
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was chosen as Iran's new Supreme Leader on March 8, 2026. While the 56-year-old cleric's name was in the fray after the country's previous leader and his father was assassinated in the US-Israel coordinated strikes, Mojtaba Khamenei was confirmed to lead Iran just yesterday.
When reports first claimed that Mojtaba Khamenei was set to become Iran's new Supreme Leader, Iranian actor Elnaaz Norouzi spoke to NDTV in an exclusive interview in which she spoke about the years-long history of oppression and violence in her native country.
Reacting to reports of Mojtaba Khamenei being named as the next leader, Elnaaz Norouzi had then said that it's nothing new that someone who has not been chosen by the people of Iran has been entrusted with the responsibility of running the country.
"Just like the past 47 years, people who are coming to power that Iranian people have not chosen. The same happened with Ali Khamenei; now there's another supreme leader coming in that Iran has not chosen...
"This has been going on for 47 years. They are choosing another leader now. They had chosen a leader that none of the Iranians knew. They killed Khamenei. Now his son is going to be the supreme leader. We have no comments on that. We have no say," the Sacred Games actor told NDTV last week.
Elnaaz Norouzi, the Tehran-born actor who holds a German citizenship, said Iranians want to vote.
"The whole point is that Iranians have been trying to say for many, many years - 47 years, to be precise - that we want to choose our leader. We would like to vote... In 2009, there was a huge protest. Millions of people came out on the roads, chanting 'Where is our vote?' A lot of people died in that. People realised this is not the person we voted for, but this is the person who has come to office now," she added.
Elnaaz Norouzi, also known for films such as Kandahar and Tehran as well as web series Made in Heaven and Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond, also sent a message to fellow Iranians.
"Stay strong. Stay in your homes. Hope for better days. All Iranians know there's no better way out: there's a protest, the regime retaliates by killing innocent people, civilians go back to their usual lives with no jobs, no security, and having to buy eggs with loans," she said.
"All we can hope is that the world understands-we need help; we are empty-handed. The only problem is right now everybody cares about it because of the war," she further said.
Like many Iranians, the actor said she was also "born into this whole mess".
"I don't think there's a moment when my parents realised they needed to leave. During my childhood, they realised it when the revolution took place in 1979... Many other Iranians were born into this mess. As long as I remember, my parents were talking about leaving Iran as life was already getting terrible there.
"Unfortunately, that's such a sad part of our life that more than 5 million in the Iranian diaspora live in America, Australia, Europe-all over the world-because they don't have great lives in Iran. Whenever I see it, my heart bleeds that people in Iran didn't have a chance to live their lives. It's been a conversation going on for 47 years."
Elnaaz Norouzi said 90 million people can't leave Iran and that's why Iranians have to "get their country back".
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