The Assembly of Experts formally selected Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader on Sunday, announcing the decision through state media and urging citizens and intellectuals alike to support the transition. The appointment ends weeks of uncertainty following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint US-Israeli strike on Tehran on February 28. The clerical body described the vote as decisive.
At 56, Mojtaba Khamenei is known as a deeply conservative figure who avoided public office and formal government titles throughout his career. Instead, he operated through informal networks inside his father’s office, building influence with clerics and the IRGC over many years. His reported involvement in the 1988 security crackdown following the disputed presidential election added to his reputation as a hardliner aligned with the regime’s core institutions.
Senior Iranian officials quickly fell in line behind the new leader. The speaker of parliament called loyalty to Mojtaba a ‘religious and national duty,’ while the Revolutionary Guards pledged their allegiance. Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani endorsed the appointment, saying the new leader had the capability to guide the country through its current challenges. The armed forces leadership also formally declared their support.
Internationally, the decision added fuel to an already volatile situation. Israel conducted strikes on energy infrastructure across Tehran and surrounding areas, sending thick black smoke over the capital. IRGC spokesman warned that if strikes on Iranian energy continued, oil prices could exceed $200 per barrel. Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait reported waves of Iranian drone and missile attacks, with Bahrain’s desalination infrastructure sustaining significant damage.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment is widely seen as the regime’s attempt to maintain continuity and project resilience in the face of military defeat and foreign pressure. Critics, however, argue the move exposes a fundamental contradiction — the establishment of hereditary succession in a revolutionary republic that was built on the rejection of dynastic rule. The coming weeks will test whether his leadership can stabilize Iran or deepen its isolation.