Mojtaba Khamenei
Mojtaba Khamenei is the second son of Iran's Supreme Leader and is persistently named as a possible successor, on evidence that is almost entirely circumstantial. Born in Mashhad in 1969, he studied at the seminary in Qom under senior conservative clerics including Mesbah-Yazdi, and holds a mid-ranking clerical position. He served briefly in the Iran-Iraq war as a teenager. He holds no official state office. What is attributed to him is influence: management of his father's household and office, close relationships with commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij, and a role in the networks that connect the Leader's office to the security apparatus. Reformist opponents accused him of organising the suppression of the protests after the disputed 2009 election, and he was sanctioned by the United States in 2019 and by the European Union subsequently. Almost none of this is documented in the way a public career would be, and Iranian officials have repeatedly denied that he has any political role. The Iranian system provides no mechanism for hereditary succession: the Assembly of Experts, itself vetted by the Guardian Council, elects the Leader. A dynastic succession would also contradict the founding argument of the revolution, which overthrew a monarchy. His name recurs nonetheless because his father was himself elevated in 1989 despite thin clerical credentials, because the Guards' influence over the process has grown, and because no other candidate has been visibly groomed. His father, born in 1939, has led the country since 1989. Any succession will be the first the Islamic Republic has conducted with no living founder to point at a candidate.
- Lived: 1969 CE – ?
- Nationality: Iranian
- Roles: Supreme Leader (2026-present)
