Iran has named a new supreme leader following the death of longtime ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, marking a major shift in the country’s leadership.
According to Fox News, Iranian state television reported that the country’s powerful clerical body, the Assembly of Experts, selected Mojtaba Khamenei to take over the position.
The group of clerics is responsible for choosing the nation’s supreme leader when the office becomes vacant.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is the second-eldest son of the late leader and has long been considered an influential figure within Iran’s political and religious establishment.
He was born in 1969 in the city of Mashhad, where his early childhood unfolded during a turbulent period in Iranian history.
At the time, his father was emerging as a prominent religious figure opposing the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ali Khamenei rose through the ranks of the new government. He eventually held several senior positions within the regime, including deputy defense minister.
The family later moved to Tehran.
Following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, Ali Khamenei was appointed the supreme leader of Iran.
In a recent interview with ABC News, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the possibility of Mojtaba Khamenei taking power.
“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone who will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump said.
Trump also added, “They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela.”
The United States sanctioned Mojtaba Khamenei in 2019 under Executive Order 13867.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, he had been “representing the supreme leader in an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position aside from work in the office of his father.”
Officials also said that Ali Khamenei had delegated portions of his leadership duties to his son.
The Treasury said Mojtaba worked closely with commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force and the Basij Resistance Force, placing him in a significant role in Iran’s security affairs.
Mojtaba Khamenei is married to the daughter of former Iranian parliament speaker Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel.
