OAN Staff Sophia Flores
6:15 PM – Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son, who was initially reported by a number of outlets to be deceased, has been selected to succeed him as the next supreme leader of Iran.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that senior clerics were tasked with picking the next supreme leader of the Islamic Republic.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, the second eldest son of the former head, was quickly tapped to assume control by Iran’s Assembly of Experts, Iran International revealed.
Mojtaba was initially rumored to have been killed alongside his father and dozens of other senior Iranian figures in the opening waves of joint U.S.-Israeli strikes. Initial reports from Israeli media, various mainstream Western outlets, and opposition sources had suggested that he was among the over 40 high-ranking Iranian officials killed during the opening strikes on Tehran’s command structures — including Khamenei’s own compound.
However, claims of his death proved to be premature or unfounded. Mojtaba not only survived the attacks but, according to multiple sources — including Iran International and domestic insiders — has since been named his father’s successor.
Surfacing reports indicate that, in the days following the confirmed death of his father, the Assembly of Experts elected or “anointed” Mojtaba as the new head of state, allegedly under intense pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
According to Abu Saleh, Mojtaba will operate in the background while remaining in his father’s shadow. He reportedly ran his father’s office, controlled access to communications including social media activity from his father’s account, and currently maintains very close ties to the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Quds Force, and the Basij.
The new supreme leader has also been described as a dominant political force in Iran, allegedly involved in ordering violent crackdowns on protesters and supporting internet shutdowns, similar to his father, despite opposition from figures such as President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Despite being sanctioned by the U.S. in 2019, the younger Khamenei is said to oversee an investment empire valued at over £100 million ($133,285,500), with reported access to luxury properties in north London and financial accounts across the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and Liechtenstein.
Additionally, Mojtaba has an extensive real estate portfolio, owning 11 properties on The Bishops Avenue, an exclusive street north of London often referred to as “Billionaires’ Row.”
If emerging reports prove accurate, Mojtaba’s appointment as supreme leader would mark a surprising and controversial development. Father-to-son succession is traditionally viewed with strong disfavor within Iran’s Shiite clerical establishment, as it evokes hereditary rule — precisely the kind of monarchy the 1979 Islamic Revolution sought to abolish.
Many senior clerics and regime insiders have long opposed such a dynastic shift, fearing it undermines the revolutionary principles of merit-based clerical authority rather than bloodline inheritance.
His father, whom President Donald Trump has described as “one of the most evil people in history,” was killed in an Israeli strike carried out as part of a joint military operation with the United States dubbed “Operation Epic Fury.”
Prior to his death, the 86-year-old supreme leader had ruled Iran for over 36 years, making him one of the longest-serving authoritarian leaders in the world.
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