Meet Mojtaba Khamenei, hard-liner with IRGC ties, likely Iran’s next supreme leader
The late supreme leader's son has long operated behind the scenes in Iran’s political system and has close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he wants a role in shaping the choice of Iran’s next supreme leader and dismissed the most widely discussed contender, the son of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba Khamenei, as "unacceptable."
"They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment," Trump said in an interview with Axios on Thursday, adding, "We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran."
Khamenei, the late supreme leader’s 56-year-old second son, is a cleric who has largely operated behind the scenes in Iran’s political and religious establishment.
Reports of his potential succession — along with an AI-generated video which showed a fake inaugural speech by Mojtaba Khamenei — have circulated since Ali Khamenei was killed during US and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday. The strike also reportedly killed Mojtaba’s wife, Zahra Haddad Adel, with whom he reportedly has three children. He has not been seen publicly since the attack.
