The German Foreign Office says that the choice of Modschtaba Chamenei as Iran’s new Supreme Leader is unlikely to alter the regime’s overall direction. The ministry’s spokesperson, speaking on Monday to the dts news agency, declined to predict the stability of the Iranian regime, but stressed that, in view of Chamenei’s appointment-he is the son of the late revolution leader-the regime’s trajectory is expected to remain largely continuous.

He added that the German government has repeatedly stressed that the Iranian people should decide their own future, especially who will lead the country and steer its political course. This decision-making, according to the spokesperson, hasn’t happened in the past and, he insisted, will not happen in this instance either.