{"id":320632,"date":"2026-03-04T03:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T03:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/320632\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T03:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T03:04:17","slug":"khameneis-son-chosen-as-irans-new-supreme-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/320632\/","title":{"rendered":"Khamenei\u2019s son chosen as Iran\u2019s new supreme leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran\u2019s Assembly of Experts has selected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/a>, as the next leader of the Islamic Republic, according to a report Tuesday by Iran International, which cited sources familiar with the decision and said the vote was held under pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.<\/p>\n

Senior Israeli officials said they assess that the Assembly is expected to formally announce Mojtaba Khamenei as successor in the coming hours.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05de\u05d5\u05d2'\u05ea\u05d1\u05d0<\/a>\"\u05de\u05d5\u05d2'\u05ea\u05d1\u05d0<\/p>\n

Mojtaba Khamenei <\/p>\n

(Photo: Iranian news agency)<\/p>\n

According to Iran International\u2019s correspondent, the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei was made \u201cunder pressure from the Revolutionary Guards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mojtaba Khamenei, the supreme leader\u2019s second son, is considered aligned with Iran\u2019s hardline conservative camp, similar to his father. He has publicly supported suppressing regime opponents inside Iran and backing an assertive policy toward external enemies.<\/p>\n

A mid-ranking cleric who teaches Shiite theology at a seminary in Qom, Iran\u2019s religious center, Mojtaba has never held a formal government position but is widely believed to wield considerable influence behind the scenes. He is known to have cultivated close ties with the Revolutionary Guard.<\/p>\n

Analysts outside Iran have previously described him as a \u201cgatekeeper\u201d within his father\u2019s inner circle. In 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on Mojtaba Khamenei, saying that although he did not hold an official title, he effectively \u201crepresented\u201d the supreme leader.<\/p>\n

Despite his name repeatedly surfacing over the years as a possible successor, Mojtaba has not been widely viewed as a leading candidate. Observers have noted that elevating him could be perceived as a hereditary transfer of power \u2014 echoing the monarchy overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution \u2014 and that he is not considered a sufficiently senior cleric by traditional standards for the post.<\/p>\n

Israeli officials have previously said Mojtaba does not appear to hold a prominent public profile and suggested Iranian authorities have sought to keep him \u201cout of sight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Iran\u2019s constitution, the supreme leader is chosen by the Assembly of Experts, whose members are elected but must first be approved by the Guardian Council, a body appointed directly or indirectly by the supreme leader. The position holds ultimate authority over the military, judiciary and key state institutions.<\/p>\n

There was no immediate confirmation from Iranian state media of Mojtaba Khamenei\u2019s reported selection.<\/p>\n

First published: 21:42, 03.03.26 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s Assembly of Experts has selected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-320632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}