Khamenei's son Mojtaba named Iran's new supreme leader: Report
Mojtaba was chosen as Khamenei's successor by Iran's Assembly of Experts
Iran's Assembly of Experts elected Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son Mojtaba Khamenei as the next Supreme Leader under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards, informed sources told, according to Iran International.
The New York Times stated that the senior clerics responsible for selecting Iran's next supreme leader met on Tuesday (3 March) to deliberate, and Mojtaba emerged as the clear front-runner, according to three Iranian officials familiar with the deliberations.
The decision has not been made public and is expected to be announced after Ali Khamenei is buried, according to Iran International.
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It reported that it is not a routine succession, but a wartime decision shaped by the security state that raises serious questions about constitutional procedure.
The priority appears to be speed and control, as the Islamic Republic faces attacks from outside and a leadership vacuum at the top.
Why the IRGC pushed Mojtaba
According to Iran International, the IRGC needed two things at the same time: control and legitimacy.
Control means keeping the chain of command intact, preventing splits at the top, coordinating security forces and stopping a scramble for power, with internal stability as the IRGC's first priority in the current crisis, the report stated.
Legitimacy matters too, but not in a broad national sense. It refers to legitimacy within the regime's core base — hard-line politicians, security institutions and loyal networks that still see the Islamic Republic as "their" state, the report said.
In that narrow sphere, Mojtaba has something others do not: he can claim direct continuity with Khamenei, and the core base can accept him without feeling the system has broken.
That combination is why the IRGC chose him, Iran International reported.
Mojtaba also has long-standing ties to the IRGC, going back decades, and deep relationships across its command networks. For years, he has been a key channel between his father and the Guard's leadership, the report said.
This gives him a rare position — close to the security core but also linked to the civilian and clerical leadership that depends on it.
He has also effectively run the Supreme Leader's office, the Beit, for at least the past two decades and is widely seen as Ali Khamenei's closest confidant, according to Iran International.
The Beit is described not just as a state within the state, but as the core of the state itself. In practice, Iran's elected government and president are often seen as a façade with limited real power. Real authority has long rested in the Beit, which controls key security, political and financial levers.
That, the report noted, is why this apparatus is now protecting itself and why it does not want an outsider coming in and taking control.
