❓WHAT HAPPENED: Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is expected to assume leadership of the country despite lacking an elected or appointed government role.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Mojtaba Khamenei, the Iranian Assembly of Experts, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
📍WHEN & WHERE: Following the death of Ayatollah Khamenei during an Israeli airstrike on Saturday as part of Operation Epic Fury, in Iran.
🎯IMPACT: Mojtaba Khamenei’s potential rise highlights tensions within Iran’s leadership and raises questions about the Islamic Republic’s stance on hereditary rule.
Mojtaba Khamenei, a 56-year-old Twelver Muslim cleric and son of the deceased Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is poised to take over as Supreme Leader of Iran despite having no prior government role nor significant position within the religious sect. His rise is reportedly backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian Assembly of Experts following the death of his father during joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes.
The Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 Islamic scholars vetted for loyalty to the Supreme Leader, convened twice to discuss the succession. Some Iranian officials have claimed that Mojtaba was selected as the primary candidate, with the Assembly of Experts under pressure from the IRGC.
However, the legitimacy of the selection is already being called into question, especially in light of the Assembly of Experts allegedly being hit by an airstrike during its meeting. Leaving a U.S. Senate briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) alluded to the possibility that 80 or so of the Assembly of Experts members were killed in the strike.
🚨 JOHN FETTERMAN after being briefed on Iran by Secretary Rubio:
“I think they just blew up 80 of Iran’s mullahs too. Which, I mean, that was pretty great actually!”
Dude’s gonna get himself kicked out of the Democrat party 🤣🔥 pic.twitter.com/P4XiffIZ4H
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 3, 2026
Even if Mojtaba Khamenei becomes the new Supreme Leader, his tenure may be short. The U.S. Department of War and President Donald J. Trump say the U.S. Air Force has established air superiority over Iran—meaning U.S. and Israeli aircraft can strike Islamic Republic regime targets at will—and largely destroyed the regime’s navy. Additionally, the Iranian exile community is pushing several other candidates to lead the country, including Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late Shah of Iran, and Maryam Rajavi, exiled leader of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)—a front for the Islamo-Marxist People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK).
If Mojtaba Khamenei assumes the role, it will contradict the Islamic Republic’s long-standing criticism of hereditary rule.
Image by Mahmoud Hosseini / Tasnim News Agency.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.