Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei who has been appointed as the new head of the Islamic republic, is a discreet figure who offers continuity of his father’s hardline leadership.
The 56-year-old had no official post during his father’s rule, but was speculated to be acting behind the scenes to pull strings at the heart of power in Iran.
He is regarded as close to conservatives, notably because of his ties with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which swiftly pledged allegiance to the new leader.
The Islamic republic’s third supreme leader also received endorsements from President Masoud Pezeshkian, the armed forces and the judiciary within hours of his appointment.
Because of his discretion at official ceremonies and in the media, Khamenei’s true influence has been the subject of intense speculation for years among the Iranian population as well as in diplomatic circles.
He was named supreme leader by Iran’s top clerical body, the Assembly of Experts, in a statement published shortly after midnight on Monday (2030 GMT Sunday).
Even though the Islamic revolution had put an end to a multi-century royal dynasty headed by the shah, the council opted for the kind of hereditary transition that Ali Khamenei had rejected on principle in 2024.
Born on September 8, 1969 in the holy city of Mashhad in eastern Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei is the only one of the late supreme leader’s six children to hold a public position.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed aged 86 during the first wave of US-Israeli air strikes on Tehran that triggered the war in the Middle East on February 28.
