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Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, is among the leading contenders to succeed his father as the new head of the Islamic republic.
Khamenei’s successor is set to be named by the top clerical body the Assembly of Experts, with one of its members, Ahmad Khatami, telling Iranian state media on Wednesday that they hoped to vote “at the earliest opportunity”.
Contenders for the top position include Alireza Arafi, one of the three members of the interim council running the country, hardliner Mohsen Araki, and even Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic republic in 1979.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, would represent a hereditary transition that his father rejected as an idea in 2024.
The Islamic republic put an end to a multi-century royal dynasty headed by the shah.
Born on September 8, 1969, in the holy city of Mashhad in eastern Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei is one of the late supreme leader’s six children.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died aged 86 on Saturday in Tehran in one of the opening US-Israeli missile strikes of the war.
Because of his discretion at official ceremonies and in the media, Mojtaba’s true influence has been the subject of intense speculation for years among the Iranian population as well as in diplomatic circles.
He is the only child of the former supreme leader to hold a public position despite having no official post.
The cleric, who has a salt-and-pepper beard and the black turban of the “seyyed”, descendants of the Prophet Mohammed, has been presented by some as the real boss, acting behind the scenes at the heart of power in Iran.
He is regarded as close to conservatives, notably because of his ties with the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic republic.
This relationship dates back to his service in a combat unit at the end of the war between Iraq and Iran from 1980-1988.
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Mojtaba Khamenei in 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term, stating that the Iranian represented the supreme leader “despite never being elected or appointed to a government position aside from work in the office of his father”.
Read Also: 48 Iran Leaders Killed In US-Israeli Operation – Trump
Ali Khamenei had “delegated a part of his leadership responsibilities” to his son “who worked closely” with Iranian security forces “to advance his father’s destabilising regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives”, it said.
Opponents have notably accused him of playing a role in the violent crackdown that followed the re-election of ultra-conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, which triggered a vast protest movement.
According to an investigation by the Bloomberg news organisation, which cited anonymous sources and Western intelligence agency reports, Mojtaba Khamenei has amassed wealth estimated at more than $100 million.
Money from oil sales had been channelled into investments in luxury British real estate, hotels in Europe and property in Dubai through shell companies in tax havens, according to the article.
On the religious front, he studied theology in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, where he also taught.
He attained the rank of Hujjat al-Islam, a title given to mid-ranking clerics, below that of Ayatollah held by his father and revolutionary founder Ruhollah Khomeini.
His wife, Zahra Haddad-Adel, daughter of a former speaker of parliament, also died in the US-Israeli strikes that killed the supreme leader, according to Iranian authorities.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned on Wednesday that any successor to Ali Khamenei would become “a target”.
The Assembly of Experts has 88 members who are elected every eight years.
It has only overseen one leadership transition process to date, when Khamenei was selected in 1989 following the death of Khomeini.
President of the United States of America, Donald Trump has said that his country will cut every tie with Spain because the NATO ally refused to let America use its two bases in southern Spain to attack Iran.
During a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump told reporters that Spain has been problematic.
He also said he had instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop all business dealings with Spain.
He said, “We’re going to stop all trade with Spain. We don’t want any connection with Spain.”
Trump’s warning came just a few hours after Spain’s foreign minister said there is not much chance of any revenge actions being taken.
José Manuel Albares told reporters after Tuesday’s weekly cabinet meeting that the bases, which are Spanish sovereign bases, are used together with the US under the treaty between Spain and the United States.
He explained that these bases can be used within the framework of the treaty, and this is done while maintaining Spain’s sovereignty.
“So, there’s nothing unusual or unexpected about this, and we don’t expect any effects or outcomes,” he said.
He also mentioned that Washington did not ask to use the bases in Rota and Morón.
He also said he has not had any talks with any US representatives and has not made any requests about it.
Trump again criticized Spain for not agreeing to NATO’s plan that requires member countries to spend 5% of their GDP on defense. He said that everyone was excited about it, including Germany, but Spain did not take part.
“Now Spain said we can’t use their bases, and that’s okay. We could use their bases; if we wanted, we could just fly in and use them. No one is going to stop us from using it. But we don’t have to. But they were unfriendly.”
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that it was too late for talks with Iran even though Tehran wants them.
“Their air defense, Air Force, Navy, and Leadership is gone. They want to talk. I said ‘Too Late!’” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, two days after saying he had agreed to talks, amid the joint Israeli-US bombardment of Iran.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump has claimed that over 48 Iranian leaders have been killed in ongoing U.S.-Israeli bombardments, describing the offensive as a major success.
“Nobody can believe the success we’re having, 48 leaders are gone in one shot. And it’s moving along rapidly,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
The military strike, launched Saturday, aims to dismantle the Islamic Republic’s leadership and degrade its military capabilities.
