US EditionKhamenei's death brings Khomeini's grandson into focus
Hassan Khomeini, a moderate cleric with reformist ties and symbolic standing, is gaining support amid political unrest and calls for change within Iran's leadership.
- On March 2, 2026, the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a U.S.-Israeli attack has brought urgency to clerical deliberations over his successor, with a grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini likely to play a key role.
- Seen as a moderate, Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, is widely viewed as reformist-connected, holds the mausoleum custodianship, and has never served in government.
- He has a record of public criticism, noting that he demanded accountability after Mahsa Amini's 2022 death and was disqualified by the Guardian Council from running for the Assembly of Experts due to his Hojatoleslam rank.
- Momentum within political circles has favored some politicians pushing for a moderate successor after unrest swept Iran in January, with some viewing Khomeini as a rival to hardliners, notably his son, Mojtaba Khamenei.
- Beyond politics at home, Khomeini mixes progressive theology with strong rhetoric, calling Israel `evil Zionist regime` and `a cancerous tumor`, while the IAEA Board met on March 2, 2026, at Russia's request in response to U.S. and Israeli air strikes.
22 Articles
22 Articles
Ayatollah Khomeini's death in Iran brings ex-Supreme Leader's grandson into focus
A grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is likely to figure prominently in the deliberations of the clerics who will determine who replaces Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader.
The attention of world public opinion is logically focused on the Islamic Republic of Iran after its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been eliminated. Who was the successor of the leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khomeini, who died in 1989 and who ten years earlier had overthrown the Persian monarchy headed by the Sha Reza Pahlevi, reigning since 1941. The anti-Americanism of the Ayatollah regime is accredited from the very …
Khamenei’s death brings Khomeini’s grandson into focus
A grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is likely to figure prominently in the deliberations of the clerics who will determine who replaces Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader.
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