Iran’s New Supreme Leader: Mojtaba Khamenei Takes Reins Following Father’s Death

“Think of Mojtaba Khamenei as his father on steroids,” says Kasra Aarabi, director of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps research at United Against Nuclear Iran, describing Iran’s new supreme leader in comments following reports that the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been selected to lead the Islamic Republic.

According to Aarabi, Mojtaba was already functioning as a “mini supreme leader” within his father’s office, the Bayt-e Rahbari, which represents the core center of power in the regime. “His father had created the Bayt’s extensive apparatus as a hidden power structure to ensure continuity should he be eliminated—and through Mojtaba’s appointment, this is exactly what we will get,” he explained.

President Donald Trump reacted to the succession in an interview with the New York Post, stating he was “not happy with” the younger Khamenei replacing his father. When asked about potential U.S. responses, Trump declined to elaborate, saying only, “Not going to tell you. I’m not happy with him.”

An Iranian source with knowledge of the leadership transition told Fox News Digital that earlier speculation about Mojtaba potentially pursuing reforms now appears highly unlikely. “Previously there were whispers suggesting that if Mojtaba were to become the leader, he might introduce reforms that would both open up the domestic political space and bring a more interactive approach to foreign policy,” the source said. “However, now this possibility seems very weak.”

The source added that Mojtaba was chosen “amid disputes, controversies, and pressure from the IRGC,” meaning he “owes his appointment to their support and therefore cannot act against their wishes.”

Deep Ties to Iran’s Security Apparatus

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has spent decades building influence inside Iran’s power structures. Born in 1969 in Mashhad, he pursued clerical studies in Tehran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought his father to prominence. Over time, his influence developed less through traditional clerical authority and more through Iran’s security institutions.

In 2019, the United States sanctioned Mojtaba under Executive Order 13867. The U.S. Treasury Department noted he had been “representing the supreme leader in an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position aside from work in the office of his father.”

Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Iran Program, said Mojtaba’s background reflects a broader shift within the Islamic Republic’s power structure. “Despite donning a turban, Mojtaba is the product of the regime’s national security deep state,” Ben Taleblu explained. “Expect him to work with and through the IRGC to keep his hold on power.”

Aarabi described how Mojtaba has spent years consolidating influence behind the scenes, saying, “His past tells us he enjoys micromanaging every aspect of authority to satisfy his thirst for power.” He detailed how Mojtaba allegedly relocated IRGC command centers to his office during protests, engineered election outcomes, and installed loyalists across state institutions.

Since 2019, Aarabi added, Mojtaba has been implementing what he described as his father’s effort to “purify” the regime by promoting ideological loyalists throughout the political system. “Mojtaba is a deeply antisemitic, anti-American, and anti-Western ideologue,” Aarabi said. “He has personally been involved in repression in Iran and terror plots abroad.”

More Hardline Approach Expected

Analysts anticipate Mojtaba’s rise will further strengthen the role of Iran’s security institutions within the country’s power structure. “The rise of the younger Khamenei expedites trendlines seen in Iranian politics and national security for years,” Ben Taleblu noted. “From one Khamenei to another, things in Iran can be expected to go from bad to worse if this regime survives.”

Ben Taleblu warned that the regime might escalate external tensions as a survival strategy. “The regime knows it is weak, but believes it can extract a price and widen a crisis in order to survive,” he said.

For opposition groups inside Iran, the leadership transition signals continuity rather than change. “He’s the son of Khamenei and they have same ideology and they same strategy and they try to continue the same policy,” said Khalid Azizi, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran. “So far it’s very difficult to say what he will be done and is he going to have a different policy? I don’t expect this.”

The Iranian source who spoke with Fox News Digital indicated that while engagement with the United States and Western powers remains theoretically possible, the chances are slim under the new leadership. As Aarabi bluntly summarized: “In short, Mojtaba is his father on steroids. He’s certainly no MBS.”