Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has emerged as one of the leading contenders to succeed his father as the country’s new leader.
Iran’s next supreme leader will be chosen by the powerful Assembly of Experts. One of its members, Ahmad Khatami, told Iranian state media on Wednesday that the body hoped to hold a vote “at the earliest opportunity”.
Other potential contenders include Alireza Arafi, a member of the interim council currently overseeing the country, hardline cleric Mohsen Araki, and Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ruhollah Khomeini.
At 56, Mojtaba Khamenei would represent a rare hereditary-style transition in the Islamic Republic, a concept his father had publicly rejected in 2024. Iran abolished its centuries-old monarchy during the Iranian Revolution of 1979, which overthrew the rule of the shah.
Born on September 8, 1969, in the holy city of Mashhad in eastern Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei is one of six children of the late leader.
Ali Khamenei died at the age of 86 on Saturday in Tehran during one of the opening US-Israeli missile strikes in the ongoing conflict, Iranian authorities said.
Despite maintaining a low public profile at official events and in the media, Mojtaba Khamenei’s influence within Iran’s political system has long been the subject of speculation among both the public and diplomatic observers.
He is the only child of the former supreme leader known to hold a public role, although he has never occupied an official government position.
The cleric, recognisable by his salt-and-pepper beard and the black turban worn by seyyeds, those believed to be descendants of the Prophet Muhammad has been described by some observers as a powerful figure operating behind the scenes within Iran’s leadership.
He is widely regarded as being close to conservative factions, particularly due to his ties with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Those links date back to his service in a combat unit toward the end of the Iran‑Iraq War, which lasted from 1980 to 1988.
Security force links
The United States Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Mojtaba Khamenei in 2019 during the first presidency of Donald Trump, accusing him of representing the supreme leader “despite never being elected or appointed to a government position aside from work in the office of his father”.
The department said Ali Khamenei had delegated part of his authority to his son, who worked closely with Iranian security forces to advance his father’s policies.
Opponents have also accused Mojtaba Khamenei of playing a role in the violent crackdown that followed the disputed re-election of ultra-conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, which sparked widespread protests across Iran.
According to an investigation by Bloomberg citing anonymous sources and Western intelligence reports, Mojtaba Khamenei has accumulated wealth estimated at more than $100 million.
The report alleged that money from oil sales was channelled into investments including luxury real estate in Britain, hotels in Europe and property in Dubai through shell companies based in tax havens.
On the religious front, Mojtaba Khamenei studied theology in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, where he also taught.
He holds the clerical rank of Hujjat al-Islam, a title for mid-ranking clerics, below that of Ayatollah, which was held by both his father and revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini.
His wife, Zahra Haddad‑Adel, the daughter of a former Iranian parliament speaker was also killed in the US-Israeli strikes that claimed the life of the supreme leader, according to Iranian authorities.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned on Wednesday that any successor to Ali Khamenei would become “a target”.
The Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for appointing and supervising the supreme leader, consists of 88 clerics elected every eight years.
It has overseen only one leadership transition since the creation of the Islamic Republic, when Ali Khamenei was chosen as supreme leader in 1989 following the death of Ruhollah Khomeini.
AFP
