Following the passing of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba Khamenei has been appointed to serve as Iran’s new supreme leader. The elder Khamenei died as a result of the air strikes that commenced the continuing conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. The Assembly of Experts (an assembly consisting of 88 religious clerics/scholars responsible for electing supreme leaders to the Islamic Republic of Iran) elected Mojtaba Khamenei as the third Islamic Republic of Iran’s supreme leader.
In an official statement received in Tehran, the Assembly revealed that Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei received a significant number of votes as the next supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Prior to making this announcement, Mojtaba Khamenei was viewed as one of the front-runners for the position based on his influence over the political and security apparatuses operating within Iran.
Early Life and Religious Background
Mojtaba Khamenei was born in Mashhad, a city that is sacred to Shia Muslims, in 1969, at the time when his father was leading opposition to the Shah of Iran in the lead-up to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. After his father acquired power as Supreme Leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei attended theological colleges in Qom, the hub of Shia Islamic scholarship in Iran, and now holds the clerical rank of Hojjatoleslam, a mid-ranking position for Shia clerics. During the Iran-Iraq War, he served with the Iranian military in a battalion.
Influence Behind the Scenes
While he’s never held an official position in the government, many experts on Iranian politics believe that Mojtaba Khamenei has been a powerful behind-the-scenes player within the system. In particular, it has been claimed that he influenced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to become president in 2005 and then supported him throughout the controversial 2009 Iranian presidential election when protests erupted across the nation afterwards.
These were significant events for Iran’s politics and have been suppressed by Iranian security elements (including Basij).
Controversy Over Hereditary Leadership
Mojtaba’s election as Iran’s Supreme Leader is a contentious topic because it is the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that the leadership has been handed down from a father to his son. Some critics claim this creates a near-dynastic form of governance, which runs counter to the values of the original revolution that led to the overthrow of the monarchy.
Mojtaba has come under fire by those opposing him as a potential successor during protests for women’s rights occurring within the last year. Many protesters spoke out against the prospect of him being named the new Supreme Leader.
Sanctions and Personal Loss
Mojtaba Khamenei was sanctioned by the United States in 2019 for purportedly using his father’s name to exercise control without an official governmental position. U.S. government officials asserted that Mojtaba has close connections to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and other Iranian security organizations.
Additionally, on February 28, 2018, during airstrikes in Tehran, Mojtaba lost his wife, the daughter of Gholamali Haddadadel (former speaker of the Iranian parliament), one of Iran’s key conservative political figures.