Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei did not want his son, Mojtaba, to take power in Iran, according to US intelligence.
Ali Khamenei had misgivings about his son becoming leader as he was perceived to be “not very bright” and “unqualified” for the role, reported CBS news.
Issues in the younger Khamenei’s personal life were also contributing factors, according to an intelligence report circulated among President Trump and his senior advisers and shared with the TV network.
These revelations would echo recent assessments that Mojtaba didn’t meet the requirements decreed by his father to be considered for supreme leader, such having held elected office.
According to Amwaj, a news organisation specialising in Iran analysis, Mojtaba’s appointment had to be pushed through by Hossein Taeb, a key ally and former intelligence head for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Taeb reportedly pressured the Assembly of Experts – the 88-member body tasked with selecting a new supreme leader – to support him, even though none of them had met with Mojtaba since his father’s death.
Mr Trump publicly hinted at Ali Khamenei’s misgivings about his son last Friday.
“Their leadership is gone. Their second leadership is gone. Now their third leadership is in trouble, and this is not somebody that the father even wanted,” the president told Fox News.
Mojtaba was elevated to the position of supreme leader on 8 March, eight days after the elder Khamenei was killed by an Israeli airstrike on the war’s opening morning.
Widespread reports indicate Mojtaba sustained injuries to his face and legs in the same strike that killed his father, with his first official address being read by a state TV news anchor.
According to Israeli intelligence, the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei has been delayed to avoid Mojtaba appearing in public, contrary to the standard Shia practice of waiting no more than a few days to bury the deceased.
In private conversations with his inner circle, Mr Trump reportedly said such intelligence revelations regarding Mojtaba Khamenei were of little significance, believing Iran to be practically leaderless and the new supreme leader possibly dead.
A lack of clear direction would align with recent decision-making in Tehran, such as President Pezeshkian’s short-lived commitment to cease bombing Gulf states.
Having described Mojtaba as a “lightweight” and “unacceptable” to lead Iran, some experts believe Mr Trump’s earlier opposition may have motivated decision-makers in Tehran to select him.
According to the recent intelligence report, Iran’s IRGC is now leading the country and the council of experts, judiciary and religious council are weakened, a decisive shift in the clerical autocracy that has ruled since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is just the third supreme leader of Iran since 1979.
Like his father, he has a strong military background, having fought during the Iran-Iraq war, with links to the IRGC.
Considered the most influential of Ali Khamenei’s six children, Mojtaba is a hardline conservative cleric with close ties to some of Iran’s most powerful scholars.
His appointment is notable given the 1979 revolution which birthed the Islamic theocracy overthrew a hereditary monarchy.
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