Iran: Khamenei's son waiting in the wings

TEHRAN: Mojtaba Khamenei is one of the most influential figures in the Iranian clerical establishment headed by his father, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and among the figures seen as a candidate to succeed him as leader of the Islamic Republic.

A mid-ranking cleric who studied under religious conservatives in the seminaries of Qom, Mojtaba is a hardliner with close ties to the Revolutionary Guards, the force mandated to safeguard the Islamic Republic led by Khamenei since 1989.

Carrying the clerical rank of Hojjatoleslam, Mojtaba, 55, has never held a formal position in the Islamic Republic's government, exercising his influence behind the scenes as the gatekeeper to his father, according to Iran watchers. His role has long been a point of controversy in Iran, with critics rejecting any hint of dynastic politics in a country that overthrew a US-backed monarch in 1979. Khamenei has himself indicated opposition to the idea of dynastic succession.


The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Mojtaba in 2019, saying he represented the Supreme Leader in '"an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position" aside from working his father's office.

Its website said Khamenei had delegated some of his responsibilities to Mojtaba, whom it said had worked closely with the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Quds Force and the Basij, a religious militia affiliated with the Guards, "to advance his father's destabilising regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives".

Over the past 20 years, Mojtaba has built close ties with the Guards, giving him added leverage across Iran's political and security apparatus, sources said.

Mojtaba has been a target of protesters' anger in demonstrations since 2009, particularly during months of unrest that swept Iran over the death of a young woman in police custody in 2022, after she was arrested for allegedly breaching the Islamic Republic's strict dress codes.