The Assembly of Experts of Iran appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader of the country, replacing his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In an extensive statement, the assembly declared that “after careful and extensive studies… in today’s extraordinary session, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei (may Allah protect him) is designated and presented as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the decisive vote of the respected representatives of the Assembly of Experts”.
Minutes after his confirmation, the Revolutionary Guard swore allegiance to its new supreme leader. “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is ready
for total obedience and self-sacrifice in fulfilling the divine mandates of the Juristic Guardian of the time, His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei,” the Guards said in a statement.
Mojtaba Khamenei was pointed out in the last days as the main candidate to succeed his father, who died on February 28 during the first day of the joint attacks of the United States and Israel against Iran. Iranian state television confirmed that the succession was approved after an extraordinary session of the body in charge of electing the supreme leader.
Supreme leadership is of central importance in the Islamic republic, as it grants control over
the armed forces, foreign policy, and the judicial system. The appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei allows to visualize
the continuity of the religious dynasty and the consolidation of the conservative sector within the state apparatus.
The United States and Israel have intensified warnings and public pressure regarding the succession in Iran. US President, Donald Trump, maintained that Washington should approve any appointment: “If it doesn’t get our approval, it won’t last long”, he declared this Sunday. The Iranian regime has reiterated that the election of the supreme leader is an internal matter, while the White House insisted that any transition of power in Iran must consider regional security interests.
For its part, the Israeli army stated, through messages in Farsi, that it will maintain its attacks against any successor to the deceased leader and those who participate in his election.
“The hand of the country of Israel will continue to pursue any successor and anyone seeking to designate a successor”.
The designation of Mojtaba Khamenei occurs at a time of high regional tension, following the death of Ali Khamenei, who held the position of supreme leader for more than three decades and concentrated political and religious power in Iran. According to the state agency IRNA, the Assembly of Experts made the decision in an emergency session, following the protocol provided for succession.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 54, is known for his influence in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and his closeness to the most conservative sectors of the Shia clergy.
He has been considered for years one of the main contenders to succeed his father as the supreme leader of the country, even before an Israeli attack killed him last week at the start of the war, despite the fact that he has never been elected or appointed to a government position.
Reserved figure within the Islamic Republic, Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public since Saturday, when the Israeli air strike against the supreme leader’s offices killed his father, 86, and his wife, Zahra Haddad Adel.
The whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei are uncertain, although he is believed to be alive and has gone into hiding while the American and Israeli bombings of Iran continue.
The now new supreme leader assumes control of an Iranian army
in open conflict and a reserve of highly enriched uranium, enough to manufacture a nuclear weapon if the regime so decides, according to reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Mojtaba Khamenei has played a role similar to that of Ahmad Khomeini, son of Iran’s first supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini: a combination of aide, confidant, and power broker, according to the US pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran. Born in 1969 in Mashhad, he grew up amidst his father’s opposition to the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the repression of the SAVAK secret police, which marked the childhood of the Khamenei family.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the family moved to Tehran and Mojtaba fought in the Iran-Iraq war within the Habib ibn Mazahir Battalion, a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Several of his comrades rose to key intelligence positions, strengthening the influence of the family circle. Ali Khamenei’s rise to supreme leadership in 1989 allowed Mojtaba and his entourage to access billions of dollars and assets distributed in the bonyads, state foundations that manage part of the national wealth.
U.S. diplomatic documents published by WikiLeaks in the late 2000s described Mojtaba as “the power behind the robes,” detailing his role as his father’s main guardian and builder of his own support base. A 2008 cable noted that, despite his lack of theological credentials and his relative youth, he was seen within the regime as a “capable and powerful” administrator, with the possibility of sharing national leadership.
Mojtaba Khamenei has maintained a close relationship with the commanders of the Revolutionary Guard and, in particular, with the Quds Force and the Basij, a volunteer corps responsible for the repression of national protests in January, according to the United States Treasury Department. In 2019, Washington sanctioned him for promoting “destabilizing regional ambitions and oppressive internal goals” in support of his father’s policies.
Among the accusations are his support for the election of President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005 and his re-election in 2009, which triggered the Green Movement protests.
Mahdi Karroubi, presidential candidate in both elections, denounced Khamenei as responsible for electoral interference and manipulation.
There has only been one previous transfer of power in the position of supreme leader of Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Ruhollah Khomeini, the first supreme leader, died at the age of 86 after leading the revolution and directing the country during the war with Iraq. Now, the new leader will take command after a 12-day conflict with Israel and amid a joint offensive by the United States and Israel to neutralize the Iranian nuclear and military threat, in a context of high internal and external tension.
The supreme leader occupies the center of the complex Iranian Shiite theocracy, with final authority over all state affairs, in addition to commanding the army and the Revolutionary Guard. This force, designated by the United States as a terrorist organization in 2019, was consolidated and strengthened under the mandate of Ali Khamenei and leads the so-called “Axis of Resistance”, a network of militant groups and regional allies opposed to the United States and Israel. The Revolutionary Guard manages a considerable part of Iran’s wealth and military arsenal, including control over the country’s ballistic missile system.
