Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader?

Iran's Assembly of Experts has appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader of Iran, succeeding his father, Ali Khamenei and becoming the third person to hold the position since the 1979 revolution.

The council said the decision was taken during an extraordinary session after extensive consultations and legal deliberations.

It confirmed that members had voted "by an overwhelming majority during today's extraordinary session to appoint Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran", citing powers granted under Article 108 of the Iranian constitution.

The Assembly of Experts also praised members of the temporary leadership body formed after the death of the previous leader and called on Iranians, particularly religious scholars and intellectual elites, to "pledge allegiance to the new leader and preserve national unity".

Born on 8 September 1969, Mojtaba Khamenei is the second son of the late Supreme Leader and the most politically active among his three brothers.

Although the Iranian political system formally rejects hereditary succession, the constitution does not explicitly prohibit it, and Mojtaba Khamenei's name has circulated for years as a potential successor to his father.

He joined the religious seminary in the city of Qom in 1999 to continue his theological studies and gradually emerged as a figure with growing influence inside the political and religious establishment.

In recent years, Western and opposition media have described him as a powerful behind-the-scenes figure with strong ties to Iran’s military and security institutions, particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps(IRGC).

Those connections helped reinforce speculation that he would receive backing from factions most loyal to the political system.

The US Treasury imposed sanctions on Mojtaba Khamenei in November 2019, along with several other individuals linked to his father's inner circle.

He is also connected to a prominent political family through marriage, having wed the daughter of former Iranian parliament speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel.

Iranian officials and political figures swiftly endorsed the appointment.

IRGC allegiance, political support

The IRGC   announced its allegiance to the new leader, describing the decision as "the beginning of a new phase in the path of the Islamic Revolution", and stressing that the Islamic Republic "does not depend on any single individual".

The force said it would remain committed to "complete obedience and readiness to sacrifice in order to implement the orders of the new leader, protect the values of the revolution, and safeguard the legacy of Imam Khomeini and Imam Khamenei".

Iran's internal security forces also pledged allegiance, describing the appointment as "an important step in the path of the Islamic system".

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, thanked the Assembly of Experts for holding its meeting "despite all the exceptional circumstances facing the country, even with Donald Trump threatening to bomb the council".

He said Iran's enemies believed that assassinating the previous supreme leader would leave the country "at a dead end", but that Mojtaba Khamenei had been selected through "a clear legal process".

Larijani added that the assembly, through the "transparent path" it followed, had ended the "negative atmosphere" that had emerged in recent days.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also praised the decision, describing the election of Mojtaba Khamenei as "precise and well-considered", adding that it "served as a healing balm".

Ghalibaf said the Iranian people had been blessed with "a brave revolutionary leader, a skilled administrator, resourceful, aware of the circumstances of his time, aware of his enemy, and simple in his lifestyle".

Ideological continuity

Conservative Iranian analyst Hatif Salehi told The New Arab that the appointment had signalled a determination to continue the ideological path established by the founders of the Islamic Republic.

He said selecting Mojtaba Khamenei as leader "means, under these circumstances, an insistence on continuing the path of the martyred Imam, which itself followed the path of the late Imam (Ayatollah Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini)".

Salehi added that the decision sends "a strong message to the country’s enemies that the Islamic Republic will not retreat even an inch under external pressure and will not abandon the fundamental principles of the Islamic Revolution".

According to Salehi, the new leader combines religious credentials with political experience and extensive connections across Iran’s political spectrum.

He said Mojtaba Khamenei has developed "the experience he has accumulated over the years through his presence in the leadership institution and the special responsibilities entrusted to him, where he assisted his father in governance and leadership".

"He was one of his father's trusted advisers," Salehi said, adding that the cleric has a strong understanding of "political, religious, social and international issues".