When hundreds of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets in 1979 to finish the rule of the previous shah, their revolution appeared to have put an finish to the apply of passing energy from father to son. Not so.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has been elevated to the place his father held for almost 4 a long time till his loss of life in US-Israeli air strikes. The 88-member Assembly of Experts did what many Iranians had hoped it might by no means do: flip the Islamic Republic into a dynasty.
The appointment of the very determine US President Donald Trump had branded “unacceptable” appeared to be a deliberate act of defiance – a sign that Iran’s management has no intention of folding to American strain. Instead, the regime seems to be doubling down on the slain supreme leader’s hardline course, betting it might probably climate future assaults by consolidating energy across the Revolutionary Guards with the youthful Khamenei on the helm.
Before the information had absolutely unfold in a nation underneath near-total web and communications blackout, the image-making had already begun.
Within hours of Mojtaba’s appointment as Iran’s third Supreme Leader, state media launched a four-minute documentary recounting his life: modest origins, seminary research and, crucially, his time on the entrance strains of the Iran-Iraq struggle as a 17-year-old, “bravely fighting” alongside the revolution’s defenders.
The clip’s message was clear. Mojtaba is the rightful inheritor to the “martyred leader,” with the political and spiritual credentials to rule. It additionally sought to preempt a central criticism: that he lacks the scholarly depth historically anticipated of a “vali-faqih,” or supreme jurisprudent. For the regime’s core supporters, the movie aimed to reassure them that there was no motive to panic, portraying a chief fluent in world affairs and safety issues now on the helm.
Then got here the cascade of pledges of allegiance down the institutional chain: the president, parliament and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Choreographed and public, they have been meant to present that the system, or “nezam,” is standing and dealing as it ought to.
Born in 1969, Mojtaba Khamenei obtained spiritual coaching like his different brothers although he by no means rose to the rank of Mujtahid, the extent of Islamic jurisprudence many regime loyalists think about important for the position of supreme chief. He is married to Zahra, the daughter of former speaker of parliament and Khamenei confidant Gholam Haddad Adel.
For years, Mojtaba stored a low profile, though from the shadows he was a central determine in the huge officialdom of his father’s system. He cultivated shut ties to the IRGC and the financial networks that prop up the system.
So little footage of him exists in the general public area that state media has resorted to filling the gaps with AI-generated video of the brand new chief since his appointment.
For Iran observers, his affect behind the scenes was unmistakable, even with out holding a senior formal place. In current years, as he labored in his father’s workplace, he was more and more positioned as a potential successor and, in 2021, footage on social media confirmed supporters distributing posters on the streets of Tehran that brazenly promoted him as the following chief.
Many imagine he performed a pivotal position in pushing for the election of the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential elections. He was recognized to have mobilized the IRGC’s networks to increase the candidacy of the then-mayor of Tehran, Ahmadinejad, who was up towards the higher recognized, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a Khamenei rival.
By 2009, when hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest the re-election of Ahmadinejad in what they noticed as a rigged election, it was clear that Mojtaba was not merely the son of the chief however a political operator in his personal proper. The rebellion was brutally crushed, marking the start of the top of any true home reformist motion. Events of that yr confirmed his ascendancy, with protesters on the streets chanting “Mojtaba bemiri Rahbari ro Nabini,” or “Mojtaba may you die so you don’t assume the leadership role.”
He was sanctioned by the US in 2019 after the US Treasury accused him of working intently with the commander of the highly effective Revolutionary Guards to advance what it described as his father’s “destabilizing regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives.”
The US-Israel assault that killed his father additionally took a number of family. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law have been all killed in the assault, in accordance to state media. Days later, the late supreme leader’s spouse – Mojtaba’s mom – additionally died of her wounds, in accordance to state media.
What does his rise imply for Iran and for the struggle with the US?
Hopes for a extra democratic future for Iran might now lie in tatters, as Mojtaba’s elevation sends an unmistakable message about the place Iran’s hardline rulers want to take the regime. It means that the Revolutionary Guards and their allied factions have emerged from the primary section of this present struggle extra decided to double down on persevering with Ali Khamenei’s legacy and insurance policies.
Mojtaba has no administrative document and has by no means led a main group or entity. He has made few public pronouncements on the myriad of social, financial, cultural and political challenges already dealing with the nation, even earlier than the devastation of all-out struggle. And his worldview is formed in his father’s shadow.
In deciding on him, Iran’s rulers can be signaling the “continuation of the regime,” Maha Yahya, director of the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center, instructed NCS earlier than Mojtaba was confirmed. The appointment may be seen as a message from the regime, she mentioned, that US-Israel army strain is “not going to get us to shift position.”
His appointment sends a message of continuity at house and defiance overseas, Ali Alfoneh, a senior fellow on the Arab Gulf States Institute, instructed NCS, warning that the brand new chief might wrestle to overcome longstanding legitimacy points at house.
“Is this going to solve the electricity shortage of the people or the water shortage? Unemployment and all the other problems that the regime is facing? No,” Alfoneh mentioned.
Gary Grappo, former US Ambassador to Oman, mentioned Mojtaba’s expertise is derived from working his father’s workplace.
“He’s powerful because he ran his father’s office. … You could consider it to be akin to the chief of staff with his hands on intelligence, economic policy, security policy and, of course, all the political affairs as well as religious affairs,” he mentioned.
Mojtaba succeeded his father on a night time of deep symbolic resonance for Shiite Muslims. The clerics selected the primary of Laylat al-Qadr, one in all Ramadan’s holiest nights, to announce his appointment. It can be a time that commemorates the assassination of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, whom Shiite Muslims imagine was the divinely appointed successor to Prophet Mohammed.
“God’s grace became manifest,” regime supporters chanted in Tehran metro the morning after Mojtaba’s appointment. “Khamenei became young again.”