Iran’s Succession Crisis Ends With Mojtaba Khamenei, Who Is ‘His Father on Steroids’
Iranian officials selected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to lead the Islamic Republic on Monday.
Despite his growing influence over the years, Mojtaba Khamenei has never held formal public office. Like his father, the newly installed leader is a prominent Iranian religious scholar. He has spent years operating behind the scenes within Iran’s ruling establishment, as much of his reputation has been built through his work inside his father’s office and his longstanding ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC, one of the most dominant institutions in Iranian politics, pressured the Assembly of Experts to approve the younger Khamenei’s elevation to supreme leader, the Jerusalem Post reports.
According to Kasra Aarabi of United Against Nuclear Iran, “Think of Mojtaba Khamenei as his father on steroids.” Aarabi explained that Mojtaba functioned as a “mini supreme leader” within the regime.
Once Khamenei was appointed, the Times of Israel reported that the IRGC pledged “complete obedience and self-sacrifice in carrying out the divine commands of the Guardian Jurist of the time, His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei.” Iran’s other institutions and political leadership quickly signaled loyalty to the new arrangement as well. The Iranian defense council, for instance, declared in an official statement, “We will obey the commander-in-chief until the last drop of our blood.”
Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the supreme leader’s oversight body, historically insisted that the supreme leader should be chosen for his religious credentials and political authority. Prior to the 1979 revolution, Iran was ruled by a hereditary monarchy in which power passed through royal succession within the ruling dynasties, such as the Pahlavi family. Several surviving Iranian royals live in exile to this day. (RELATED: Why Iranians Have Unified Around Reza Pahlavi)
Israeli military officials warned that Iran’s next supreme leader, along with members of the Assembly of Experts responsible for appointing him, could “become fair targets” in military strikes against Iran, according to ABC News.
Notably, speculation about Mojtaba Khamenei’s future has circulated for years. In September 2024, The American Spectator reported that Mojtaba suspended his advanced religious lectures, or Kharej Lectures, in Iran. This was an unusual move for an Islamic scholar seeking to maintain religious standing, because, in Iran’s Shiite seminary system, these scholars establish their authority and rank by teaching religious courses. At the time, his unexplained withdrawal from the classroom suggested he may have been shifting his focus away from religious teaching and toward a larger political role within the Iranian regime. (READ MORE: Khamenei’s Son Suspends His Religious Lectures)
President Donald Trump sought to play a role in shaping the outcome of Iran’s succession process. Over the weekend, he told ABC News, “[The next supreme leader is] going to have to get approval from us…If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long.” Trump also called Mojtaba Khamenei a “lightweight” and an “unacceptable” choice. Upon Iran’s selection of Khamenei’s son to succeed him, Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade reported that President Trump is “not happy” with the new Iranian supreme leader.
Tehran’s ruling elites ultimately rejected international pressure and opted for the IRGC’s choice: Mojtaba Khamenei. The circumstances of his rise may complicate the prospect of regime change that U.S. and Israeli officials favor for Iran, but, as of now, we don’t know whether Khamenei will survive three hours or three months.
As President Trump said of the Iranian regime, “We want to go in and clean out everything … We don’t want someone who would rebuild over a 10-year period.”
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