Mojtaba named Iran's new Supreme leader

Iran's Assembly of Experts elected Ali Khamenei's son Mojtaba as the next Supreme Leader under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards. According to Iran International reports, the IRGC was insisting on the swift appointment of the next leader of the Islamic Republic after Ali Khamenei's death. The report said with airstrikes ongoing, it is not feasible to convene a session of the Assembly of Experts, the constitutional body responsible for selecting the Supreme Leader. As a result, the IRGC is pushing for the appointment of the next leader to take place outside the legally prescribed procedures. It also indicate that following the killing of Khamenei in joint US-Israeli strikes, disarray and confusion have intensified within the Islamic Republic’s security and military structures.
Born in Mashhad in 1969, Mojtaba is the second-eldest son of Ali Khamenei. He has five siblings. He grew up as his father emerged as a prominent cleric opposing Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the former Shah of Iran. The 1979 Islamic Revolution transformed the family's fortunes and embedded them at the heart of the new state.During the Iran-Iraq War, Mojtaba served in the Habib Battalion, forging ties with figures who later rose within Iran's security and intelligence apparatus.
Notably, Ali Khamenei had identified three senior clerics as potential successors, and his son was not among them. Therefore, a father-to-son succession would challenge the Islamic Republic's foundational narrative of rejecting hereditary rule. Whether clerical elites and security factions coalesce around Mojtaba could determine whether his reported selection endures or faces internal resistance.