Key Terms From Deceased Ayatollah Khamenei’s Will Come To Light

Iran’s leadership crisis has taken a dramatic and deeply controversial turn after Mojtaba Khamenei, the little-known son of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was reportedly forced into power despite fierce opposition from inside the regime, objections from President Donald Trump, and even a warning written into his own father’s will.

According to sources cited by The New York Post, Ali Khamenei explicitly asked that his son not be chosen as his successor. The revelation came from Khosro Isfahani, a research director connected to the Iranian opposition group National Union for Democracy, who claims the late leader believed Mojtaba lacked the experience and political stature to run the Islamic Republic.

“In Khamenei’s will, he explicitly asked Mojtaba not to be named as successor,” Isfahani said.

The criticism didn’t stop there. Isfahani described Mojtaba as a figure who rose entirely through family connections rather than achievement.

“All these years, he has been nothing without his father’s name,” he said, adding that Mojtaba had accomplished little politically and had never held a formal government position prior to being elevated to the top post.

But according to multiple reports, the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had other plans.

The IRGC, widely considered the most powerful institution inside Iran, allegedly pressured the country’s Assembly of Experts — the body responsible for selecting the supreme leader — into installing Mojtaba despite widespread resistance among clerics.

Sources claim Mojtaba did not even secure a majority vote during deliberations. Instead, the IRGC reportedly forced the outcome after intense behind-the-scenes pressure, triggering protests and even a boycott by some members of the Assembly when the decision was announced.

“The Assembly of Experts that was supposed to pick the replacement of Khamenei didn’t vote for Mojtaba,” Isfahani said. “There was a lot of pushback against him, but under pressure from the IRGC, he was named as the successor.”

The appointment comes in the aftermath of a devastating strike in Tehran that killed Ali Khamenei and at least 49 high-ranking Iranian officials. The attack, widely attributed to Israeli forces with U.S. backing, has plunged the region into a rapidly escalating conflict.