Authorities in Iran announced on Monday that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been named as the country’s next Supreme Leader, as US and Israeli attacks enter day 10 and continue to pummel the capital, Tehran.
Iran’s Assembly of Experts chose as next leader a secretive, 56-year-old cleric, who maintains close relationship with the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps. The group has been responsible for much of Iran’s response to the war, and have vowed to avenge the death of Ali Khamenei, who was killed on 28 February during the war’s opening salvo.
The younger Khamenei – who has not been seen or heard from publicly since the war started – had long been a contender for the post, even before the airstrikes that eliminated his father, and despite never being elected or appointed to a government position prior.
There appeared to be some dissent brewing over his selection, as many disagreed with the idea of handing over the supreme leader title based on heredity, thereby creating a clerical version of the rule of the shah, which the Islamic Revolution toppled in 1979.
The Assembly of Experts however, consisted of senior religious figures and clerics, likely wanted Khamenei to prosecute the war. The younger Khamenei, who is believed to hold views that are even more hardline than his late father’s, will now be in charge of the armed forces and any decision regarding Tehran’s nuclear programme.
While Iran’s main nuclear sites – Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz – remain in tatters after last year’s US strikes, which President Trump claimed to have “obliterated” them, Tehran still holds stock of highly enriched uranium, that was reportedly moved prior to US attacks in June.
The enriched uranium is only a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Mojtaba Khamenei could thus choose to do what his father never did – pursue the bomb.
Israel has already described him as a potential target, while Donald Trump criticised the idea of Khamenei taking power.
“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me,” Trump said. “We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.”
Trump told US media on Sunday that he wants a say in who comes to power once the war is over. He warned that a new leader, selected without consulting Washington “is not going to last long”.
Still, Iran's Revolutionary Guard issued a statement expressing support, as did the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Top Iranian security official Ali Larijani, speaking to Iranian state television, praised the Assembly of Experts for “courageously” convening even as airstrikes continued in Tehran. He said the younger Khamenei had been trained by his father and “can handle this situation.”
He also has support from senior lawmakers in the country, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who in a post on X on Sunday shared a statement, congratulating Mojtaba Khamenei and praising the decision to appoint him to the top job.
