Mojtaba Khamenei is Iran’s new leader amidst war
Iran’s Assembly of Experts has elected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country’s next supreme leader, according to Iran International.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, the ayatollah’s second son, has long been viewed as a potential successor. He is widely seen as closely associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful branch of Iran’s armed forces.
Interim leadership established
On March 1, following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran established an interim leadership council and declared a 40-day mourning period. Alireza Arafi was appointed acting supreme leader.
As noted by Kazakh political analyst Mukhit Assanbayev, Iranian authorities had prepared for the possibility of conflict and other force majeure scenarios.
Read also: Ready for anything: Analyst breaks down Iran’s survival strategy in 2026.
Iran was not left without leadership, Assanbayev said, noting that Khamenei had outlined power-transfer arrangements after last year’s «12-day war» involving Israel and the U.S. The temporary shift to a collective leadership model after Khamenei’s death underscores that preparation.
Currently, authority in Iran is effectively concentrated in three offices: the supreme leader, the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary. If any of those officials are killed, successors have already been identified, according to the analyst.
