Son of Iran’s late supreme leader rises as possible successor during war

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Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has become a candidate name in discussions of who could succeed him as Iran’s war with Israel continues. The idea has circulated for years, but it has drawn renewed attention after Israeli strikes killed Ali Khamenei and members of his household at the start of the current conflict.

Mojtaba Khamenei has been “a possible candidate” to replace his father even though he has “never been elected or appointed to a government position,” the AP reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in a profile published March 4 by Jon Gambrell. The article said Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen publicly since Saturday, when an Israeli airstrike targeting the supreme leader’s offices killed Ali Khamenei, 86, and also killed Mojtaba’s wife, Zahra Haddad Adel.

AP reported that Mojtaba Khamenei is believed to still be alive and likely has gone into hiding as American and Israeli airstrikes continue to pound Iran. It added that state-run Iranian media have not reported on his whereabouts, leaving his status and location unverified in public channels.

The resurgence of his name as a potential successor also reflects how Iran’s top clerical structure may view the war’s losses. The AP reported that Ali Khamenei and his wife are considered by hard-liners as martyrs in the war against America and Israel, and that Mojtaba’s “stock likely has risen” as the Assembly of Experts—an 88-seat body that selects the next supreme leader—prepares to choose a replacement.

The selection process matters because the next supreme leader would gain control of the clerical office’s core levers of state power. The AP said whoever becomes leader would control Iran’s military and a stockpile of highly enriched uranium that could be used to build a nuclear weapon “— should he choose to decree it.”

AP also pointed to criticism that the idea of Mojtaba succeeding his father could resemble a theocratic version of Iran’s former hereditary monarchy. The profile noted that the concern existed even before the Israeli strike that killed Ali Khamenei, and that Mojtaba’s candidacy has long been discussed despite his lack of formal government appointment.

In background, the AP reported that Mojtaba Khamenei was born in 1969 in Mashhad, about a decade before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It said his father agitated against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi while growing up, and described an episode from an official biography in which the shah’s secret police, the SAVAK, broke into the family home and beat Ali Khamenei, after which Mojtaba and the other children were told their father was going on vacation.

After the shah’s fall, the AP said the family moved to Tehran and that Mojtaba went on to fight in the Iran-Iraq war with the Habib ibn Mazahir Battalion, described as a unit tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The AP said several members of that battalion later ascended to powerful intelligence roles within the force and that Mojtaba’s family likely had backing in that rise.

The profile said Ali Khamenei became supreme leader in 1989 and that Mojtaba Khamenei’s family then gained access to wealth and business assets spread across Iran’s bonyads, or foundations. It added that Mojtaba’s role and influence grew alongside his father as he worked within Ali Khamenei’s offices in downtown Tehran.

The AP reported that U.S. diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks in the late 2000s described Mojtaba as “the power behind the robes” and recounted allegations that he served as a “principal gatekeeper” and built his own power base. One cable cited by the AP said Mojtaba was viewed within the regime as capable and forceful, but also noted a lack of theological qualifications and his age at the time.

The AP also described Mojtaba Khamenei’s reported closeness to the Revolutionary Guard, including commanders tied to the Quds Force and the all-volunteer Basij, which the AP said violently suppressed nationwide protests in January. It said the United States sanctioned Mojtaba in 2019 during the first term of then-President Donald Trump for working to “advance his father’s destabilizing regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives,” and it referenced allegations tied to the 2005 election and the disputed 2009 re-election that triggered the Green Movement protests.

The AP reported that Mahdi Karroubi, a presidential candidate in 2005 and 2009, denounced Mojtaba Khamenei as “a master’s son” and alleged he interfered in both votes, and that Ali Khamenei reportedly responded by saying Mojtaba was “a master himself, not a master’s son.” It further described the supreme leader’s central role in Iran’s power-sharing theocracy, including as commander-in-chief of the military and the Guard.

With the war ongoing and leadership transition now central to Iran’s internal calculations, the Assembly of Experts’ choice could determine how Iran manages both battlefield power and strategic capabilities tied to its nuclear program, AP said.