Iran’s Assembly of Experts has elected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader, according to Iranian state television.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is Ali Khamenei’s second-eldest son and was born in Mashhad in 1969.
His early childhood coincided with his father’s rise as a revolutionary figurehead opposing the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
File photo shows Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attending a demonstration marking Jerusalem Day in Tehran. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Ali Khamenei went from a dissident cleric to a senior government official, holding important posts in the regime, including Deputy Minister of Defense.
The family moved from Mashhad to Tehran, where Mojtaba attended Alavi High School, a school known for educating members of Iran’s political and religious elite.
There he received a general and religious education and graduated in 1987. In 1989, after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Ali Khamenei was appointed supreme leader.
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Large crowds gathered in Tehran’s Enghelab Square on Monday after Iranian state television announced that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed in an Israeli attack. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
That same year, Mojtaba began his formal administrative studies in Tehran. He studied with both his father and Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, who later became the Chief Justice of Iran.
Over the years, Mojtaba was constantly seen with his father and was also considered an influential figure behind the scenes.
In one Axios interview When President Donald Trump was asked last week about reports suggesting Mojtaba Khamenei would be the new supreme leader, he said: “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone who will bring harmony and peace to Iran.” Trump also said: “They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the deal, just like Delcy.” [Rodriguez] in Venezuelan.”
In 2019, the The US has sanctioned Mojtaba Khamenei under Executive Order 13867. The U.S. Department of the Treasury stated that he “represented the Supreme Leader in an official capacity despite never having been elected or appointed to any government position other than his work in his father’s office.”
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Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei appears in public for the first time in weeks with new American threats. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader Credit/The Associated Press)
The Finance Ministry also said the supreme leader had delegated some of his leadership responsibilities to Mojtaba.
It says he worked closely with commanders of the IRGC’s Quds Force and the Basij Resistance Force, making him a key player in both domestic and international security affairs.
Mojtaba is married to the daughter of former Iranian parliament speaker Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel.
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Among Ali Khamenei’s sons, he is considered the most powerful and politically influential, according to him reports.
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