Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has emerged as a leading contender to succeed his father as the head of Iran.
The country’s next supreme leader will be chosen by the Assembly of Experts, the top clerical body, with member Ahmad Khatami telling state media on Wednesday that they aim to vote “at the earliest opportunity.”
Other potential candidates include Alireza Arafi, a member of the interim council running the country, hardliner Mohsen Araki, and Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, would mark a rare hereditary-style succession, a concept his father reportedly rejected in 2024. Born on September 8, 1969, in Mashhad, Iran, he is one of six children of the late supreme leader.
Despite holding no official post, Mojtaba has long been seen as influential behind the scenes. Known for his discretion, he is the only one of Ali Khamenei’s children with a public role and is regarded as close to the conservative establishment, particularly through ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. His connection to the Guards dates back to his service in a combat unit at the end of the Iran-Iraq war (1980–1988).
In 2019, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Mojtaba, stating he acted on behalf of his father to advance “destabilising regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives,” despite never being officially elected or appointed to a government position. Opponents have accused him of involvement in the 2009 crackdown on protests following the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources and Western intelligence, that Mojtaba has accumulated wealth exceeding $100 million, with investments in luxury UK real estate, European hotels, and Dubai properties, often via shell companies in tax havens.
Religiously, he studied and taught theology in Qom, attaining the rank of Hujjat al-Islam, below the Ayatollah rank held by his father and revolutionary founder Ruhollah Khomeini. His wife, Zahra Haddad-Adel, daughter of a former parliament speaker, reportedly died in the US-Israeli strikes that also killed Ali Khamenei.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned on Wednesday that any successor to Ali Khamenei would become “a target.”
The Assembly of Experts, comprising 88 members elected every eight years, has only overseen one leadership transition, when Ali Khamenei was selected in 1989 following Khomeini’s death.
