When thousands and 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 observe of passing power 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 demise in US-Israeli air strikes. He now sits atop a system badly weakened after the 88-member Assembly of Experts did what many Iranians had hoped it will by no means do, turning the Islamic Republic right into a dynasty.
US President Donald Trump stated final week that Khamenei’s appointment as his father’s successor can be “unacceptable” to him.
Born in 1969, Mojtaba Khamenei obtained non secular 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 function of supreme chief. He is married to Zahra, the daughter of former speaker of parliament and Khamenei confidant Gholam Haddad Adel.
For years, Mojtaba saved a low profile, though from the shadows he was a central determine within the huge officialdom of his father’s system. He cultivated shut ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the financial networks that prop up the system.
For Iran observers, his affect was unmistakable, even with out holding a senior formal place. In latest years, as he labored in his father’s workplace, he was more and more positioned as a possible successor and, in 2021, photos on social media confirmed supporters distributing posters on the streets of Tehran that overtly promoted him as the subsequent chief.
Many consider he performed a pivotal function in pushing for the election of the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad within the 2005 presidential elections. He was recognized to have mobilized the IRGC’s networks to spice up the candidacy of the then-mayor of Tehran, Ahmadinejad, who was up in opposition to the higher recognized, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a Khamenei rival,
By 2009, when thousands and 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 tip 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 carefully 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.”
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 battle extra decided to double down on persevering with Ali Khamenei’s legacy and insurance policies.
Mojtaba has no administrative report, having by no means led a significant 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 battle. And his worldview is one formed within the shadow of his father.
In choosing him, Iran’s rulers can be signaling the “continuation of the regime,.” Maha Yahya, director of the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center, advised NCS earlier than Mojtaba was confirmed. The appointment is also seen as a message from the regime, she stated, that US-Israel navy stress is “not going to get us to shift position.”