Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been elected as the country’s new Supreme Leader after his father was killed in joint strikes by Israel and the United States on February 28, 2026.
Iranian state media announced his selection on Monday morning, March 9, 2026.
The 56-year-old cleric was selected by Iran’s Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body responsible for appointing and overseeing the Supreme Leader. The council also has the constitutional authority to dismiss the leader if necessary.
Since its creation after the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, the Assembly has only selected a new Supreme Leader once before when Ali Khamenei was chosen following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that the United States would have a role in the process of choosing Iran’s next leader. He hinted that he would not welcome or accept the selection of Khamenei’s son as Supreme Leader.
Mojtaba Khamenei is the second son of the late leader and is believed to have maintained considerable influence within Iran’s political and security circles. His influence has often been linked to close relations with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij volunteer militia.
Despite this influence, Mojtaba has not traditionally held a senior clerical position in Iran’s religious establishment and has never officially held a major political office.
In 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on him, with the U.S. Treasury accusing him of working closely with leaders of the IRGC-Quds Force and the Basij to support policies attributed to his father that Washington claimed destabilized the region and suppressed dissent inside Iran.
Last week, Israel reportedly carried out a strike aimed at killing Mojtaba Khamenei, according to an Israeli source familiar with the operation. However, Israeli officials indicated that he may have only been injured rather than killed in the attack.
