US EditionReports say Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba to be named Iran’s new Supreme Leader
Mojtaba Khamenei’s election by the Assembly of Experts reflects his ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and aims to maintain continuity amid ongoing conflict, analysts say.
- Mojtaba Khamenei, 56-year-old son of slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, emerged as the leading candidate after the Assembly of Experts met on Tuesday, and IranIntl reported his election.
- The IRGC pressed for Mojtaba as a crisis-safe choice, and Iran's constitution requires the Assembly to elect a successor 'as soon as possible' after Khamenei was killed Saturday.
- Two other finalists, cleric Alireza Arafi and Seyed Hassan Khomeini, are seen as relative moderates while the Assembly of Experts held two virtual meetings and Israel struck a building in Qum.
- Analysts warn the choice would signal hard-line security dominance and likely provoke public backlash, and Israel Katz said the new leader would be `an unequivocal target for elimination`.
- This selection is only the second transfer in the Islamic Republic's 47-year history, reviving clerical establishment fears about a hereditary father-to-son handoff while controlling Iran's armed forces and highly enriched uranium stockpile.
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412 Articles
Is Mojtaba Khamenei the most dangerous man in the world?
Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of Iran’s former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, is widely seen as the most political of the leader’s children. He has long been described as the most mysterious member of the Khamenei family, rarely appearing in public and never holding significant office. He is heavily predicted to succeed his father as the leader of the Islamic Republic, following Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s assassination in a joint US-Israeli strik…
El Periódico
elcorreoweb.esMojtaba, 56, is the most likely candidate since he has the favor of the Revolutionary Guard, the political-military elite body of the Islamic Republic
For the first time in 36 years, Iran is facing the election of a new supreme leader.
How does Iran pick a new supreme leader?
The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28, 2026, set off the process of selecting a new supreme leader. It is only the second such transition in the Islamic Republic’s 47-year history and the first since the ailing Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini transferred power to Khamenei in June 1989. As stipulated in Article 111 of the Iranian Constitution, a three-person Interim Leadership Council was created on March 1, 2026. It consists of President …
Mojtaba Khamenei seems to have been preferred to other candidates because of his close proximity to the toughest officers of the Revolutionary Guards. He himself has the reputation of being even more bloody than his father.
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