Ayatollah’s son is leading contender to be Iran’s next supreme leader

The son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has emerged as the leading contender to take over as his successor.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the former Supreme Leader, who was killed in an air strike on Saturday, is being considered by the regime’s senior clerics to be the next supreme leader, according to The New York Times.

It reported that clerics met virtually on Tuesday to discuss the new leadership of the Islamic Republic, which has been decimated by American and Israeli attacks.

On Wednesday, Iranian sources stressed that Mojtaba Khamenei was still alive after days of joint US-Israeli strikes that killed the Ayatollah and a number of other potential successors.

One source told Reuters: “He was not ‌in Tehran when the Supreme Leader was killed.”

Mr Khamenei, a 56-year-old hardliner who has managed his father’s office and networks for years, is believed to be the clear front-runner and could be named as early as Wednesday morning. For years, he has been seen as one of the top candidates to succeed his father.

Khameini’s grandson, Hassan, is also seen as a potential candidate, representing the more reformist wing of the leadership that was suppressed under Khamenei.

The former supreme leader’s son is known for having close ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). His appointment would suggest that the Guards would retain control of the levers of power in Iran.

Mr Khamenei served in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, giving him revolutionary credibility, and studied theology in the holy city of Qom, meeting the constitutional requirement for clerical training.

He was targeted in US and Israeli strikes that killed his father and 40 members of the regime’s leadership, but survived. He is expected to remain a target of Israeli assassination attempts.

Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, threatened on Wednesday to assassinate any Iranian picked as the new supreme leader.

Mr Katz wrote on X: “Any leader selected by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan for Israel’s destruction, threatening the United States, the free world and countries in the region, and suppressing the Iranian people, will be a certain target for assassination, no matter his name or where he hides.”

As Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei carries dynastic legitimacy. Yet his appointment is not certain because Iran has cracked down on succession in its leadership after the regime seized power in 1979.

Donald Trump said on Tuesday that “someone from within” the Iranian regime might be the best choice to take power once the US-Israel military campaign is completed.

The US president, who four days ago had called on Iranians to “take over your government” once the bombardment ended, appeared to drift further from the idea that the war presented an opportunity to end theocratic rule.

He told reporters in the Oval Office: “Most of the people we had in mind are dead. Now we have another group, they may be dead also, based on reports. So you have a third wave coming. Pretty soon, we’re not going to know anybody.”

Credit: Truth Social/ @realDonaldTrump

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran’s last shah, is positioning himself for a return to power should Iran’s Shiite theocracy fall.

Asked about Mr Pahlavi, Mr Trump said: “It would seem to me that somebody from within maybe would be more appropriate.”

He added that it may make sense for “somebody that’s there, that’s currently popular, if there is such a person” to emerge from the power vacuum.

The president made the comments as he hosted Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, for his first in-person engagement with a foreign leader since the war began. Mr Trump said he wanted to avoid a “worst case” scenario where “somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person”.

He added: “That could happen. We don’t want that to happen. You go through this, and then in five years you realise you put somebody in who was no better.”

The White House has intensified its efforts to counter criticism that it had moved unnecessarily quickly to launch a war of choice on Iran. Mr Trump’s decision to strike followed lengthy negotiations by Steve Witkoff, the president’s peace envoy, and Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law, with the Iranians.

On Wednesday, Iran announced that a state funeral for the former Supreme Leader had been postponed “in anticipation of unprecedented turnout”.

State television reported that a new date for the funeral, which had been planned for Wednesday evening in Tehran, would “be announced later”.

Some Iranians have openly celebrated the death of Khamenei, whose security forces killed thousands of anti-government demonstrators only weeks ago in the largest domestic unrest since the revolution.

But those angry with the government said a large amount of protest was unlikely while bombs were falling.

Farah, 45, said by phone from Tehran: We have nowhere to go to protect ourselves from strikes. How can we protest?”

He added that the IRGC and Basij militia were everywhere, saying: “They will kill us. I hate this ⁠regime, but first I have to think about the safety of my two children.”

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