“The appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Iran's new supreme leader defies President Trump and signals that Tehran won't back down as it fights a war with the U.S. and Israel.
The elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei, a conservative long close to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, shows that Trump's efforts so far to cow the regime into surrender have failed. It also appears to have put hard-liners in firm control of the country, with moderate and reformist factions long marginalized. The 56-year old Khamenei is expected to take a confrontational stance toward the West.
His appointment also shows that Iran won't acquiesce to Trump's demand that he approve the country's new top cleric. Trump told Axios last week that "Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me."
The younger Khamenei's ascendance "suggests the continuation of the same old strategy: repression at home and resistance internationally," said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House.
The Revolutionary Guard and Iranian army pledged allegiance to the new leader. Following his appointment, Iran launched a wave of missiles toward Israel, state media said.
In addition to his father being killed at the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli campaign, the new leader has lost his mother, wife and a son in the strikes.
Israel said on Sunday that it would target whoever was appointed as the new supreme leader. Despite the risk, the appointment of a new top cleric is important in signaling to Iranians and the world that the regime can still function.
The ability to appoint a new supreme leader defied the expectations of its enemies, said Ali Larijani, head of the national security council. He added that Khamenei had been "raised in the school of leadership," with teachings from his father, which would help him govern the country.
The younger Khamenei has mostly kept away from the public eye, and his political views aren't well-known.
But he is closely tied to the Revolutionary Guard, where he served, mostly in noncombat roles, during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. The Guards have played a central role in repressing domestic opposition to the regime.
Khamenei's ascendance also marks the first hereditary transfer of the position of supreme leader -- something the founders of the Islamic Republic denounced when they overthrew the monarchy in 1979. Ali Khamenei and his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, believed that passing on power to one's child was un-Islamic.
The supreme leader is the Islamic Republic's top political authority, head of the armed forces and judiciary, and designated the highest authority for the world's roughly 200 million Shia Muslims. The designation as supreme leader is a lifetime appointment.
Khamenei will have to lead the regime as it faces its most serious challenge. The rulers are facing near-constant attacks from the U.S. and Israel. And it is alienating many of its neighbors in the Gulf by attacking critical infrastructure like airports and oil fields.
He is also inheriting a country that was in crisis even before the conflict started. In January, security forces operating under the older Khamenei killed thousands of protesters calling for regime change. The country of around 90 million has been facing a deep economic crisis after years of crippling sanctions imposed by the U.S. over its nuclear program.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of his father, was born in 1969, in the city of Mashhad. His name is Arabic for "chosen."
His father was a leading figure in the revolutionary movement against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Ali Khamenei was arrested repeatedly by the Shah's secret police, and during one raid, Mojtaba watched him being beaten, according to the supreme leader's website.
In 2009, he was influential, through his backing of Hossein Taeb, then commander of the paramilitary Basij militia, in the violent crackdown on Green Movement protesters who were claiming the presidential election had been stolen, according to an adviser to the Revolutionary Guard.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Khamenei in 2019, accusing him of working "to advance his father's destabilizing regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives." [1]
1. World News: Choice of Son Signals Fight to the End --- Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new leader, is closely tied to regime forces of repression. Faucon, Benoit; Sune Engel Rasmussen. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 09 Mar 2026: A6.
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