A son of Iran’s late supreme leader is chosen to replace his father as war rages

Iran’s Assembly of Experts has named Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader, following the death of his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an Israeli airstrike. The younger Khamenei, who had never held an elected or appointed government position, now ascends to Iran’s highest seat of power amid escalating regional tensions.

The secretive 55-year-old figure had long been considered a potential successor despite concerns about establishing a hereditary leadership model in the Islamic Republic. His candidacy gained momentum after his father and his wife, Zahra Haddad Adel, were killed in the recent Israeli strike on the supreme leader’s offices, elevating their status as martyrs in the eyes of Iranian hardliners.

The announcement comes after apparent divisions among Iranian officials while the 88-member Assembly of Experts deliberated on the selection. Adding an unexpected dimension to the succession process, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Mojtaba Khamenei in a recent interview with Axios, calling him a “lightweight” and declaring him “unacceptable,” while suggesting the U.S. should have involvement in choosing Iran’s next leader.

As Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei now controls not only Iran’s military forces currently engaged in conflict, but also its stockpile of highly enriched uranium that could potentially be weaponized. The Revolutionary Guard, which manages Iran’s extensive ballistic missile arsenal and coordinates proxy militant groups across the Middle East, now answers directly to him.

Born in 1969 in Mashhad, Khamenei grew up during his father’s opposition to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s regime. An official biography recounts how the shah’s secret police once raided their home and beat the elder Khamenei. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the family relocated to Tehran, and the younger Khamenei later fought in the Iran-Iraq war with the Revolutionary Guard’s Habib ibn Mazahir Battalion.

When his father became Supreme Leader in 1989, Mojtaba’s influence steadily grew. U.S. diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks in the late 2000s described him as “the power behind the robes,” suggesting he served as his father’s “principal gatekeeper” while building his own power base within the country.

“Mojtaba is, however, due to his skills, wealth, and unmatched alliances, reportedly seen by a number of regime insiders as a plausible candidate for shared leadership of Iran upon his father’s demise,” noted one 2008 diplomatic cable, while acknowledging his lack of theological qualifications.

Khamenei has cultivated close relationships with the Revolutionary Guard, including commanders of its elite Quds Force and the Basij volunteer militia that violently suppressed nationwide protests in January, according to U.S. Treasury assessments. The United States sanctioned him in 2019 during Trump’s administration for allegedly advancing “his father’s destabilizing regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives.”

Critics have long accused the younger Khamenei of political interference. Mahdi Karroubi, a presidential candidate in 2005 and 2009, denounced him as “a master’s son” and alleged he manipulated both elections in favor of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The disputed 2009 vote sparked the Green Movement protests, which were forcefully suppressed.

This marks only the second transfer of supreme leadership power since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The first occurred when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini died at 86 after leading Iran through its eight-year war with Iraq. Now, the new leader assumes control amid escalating conflict with Israel and mounting tensions with the United States.

As Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei inherits final authority over all matters of state, serves as commander-in-chief of Iran’s military forces, and controls the powerful Revolutionary Guard, which maintains extensive economic interests throughout Iran alongside its military operations.