• Ayatollah
  • Hujjat al-Islam
  • Seyyed
Mojtaba Khamenei
مجتبی خامنه‌ای
Headshot of a middle-aged man with clerical clothing at the age of 50
Khamenei in 2019
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran for Political and Security Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
c. 1997
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (1997–2026)
Interim Leadership Council (2026–present)
Preceded by Position established
Personal details
Born Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei
(1969-09-08) 8 September 1969 (age 56)
Mashhad, Iran
Spouse
Zahra Haddad-Adel
​
​
(m. 2004; died 2026)​
Children 3
Parents
  • Ali Khamenei
  • Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh
Relatives Khamenei family
Education Qom Seminary
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Iran
Branch/service Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Years of service
  • 1987–1988 (Ground Forces)
  • 2009–present (Basij)
Unit 27th Mohammad Rasulullah Division (1987–1988)
Commands Basij (de facto)
Battles/wars
  • Iran–Iraq War
    • Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas 2
    • Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas 4
    • Operation Dawn 10
  • Green Revolution
Title Ayatollah
Alma mater Qom Seminary
Religious life
Religion Shia Islam
Denomination Twelver
Jurisprudence Usuli
Senior posting
Teacher
  • Ali Khamenei
  • Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
  • Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi
  • Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani
  • Mohammad Bagher Kharazi

Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei[a] (born 8 September 1969) is an Iranian politician and Shia cleric. The second eldest child of Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei served in the Iran–Iraq War from 1987 to 1988, and also reportedly took control of the Basij that was used to suppress the protests over the 2009 election.

On 4 November 2019 the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned Mojtaba as part of their policy targeting individuals linked to Ali Khamenei, stating they were involved in repression inside and outside Iran.[1][2]

He is seen as the most influential son of Khamenei and as a possible successor to his father as supreme leader.[3][4][5][6][7]

Mojtaba is tipped as the next supreme leader of Iran by the Assembly of Experts, after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was assassinated on 28 February 2026 by the US-Israel missile strikes that were carried out against targets in Iran.[8][9][10] According to Iran International, Mojtaba Khamenei is preferred by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which reportedly pressured the Assembly of Experts to elect him.[11]

On 6 March 2026, it was reported on Zed TV that Khamenei might have been the target of an airstrike in Tehran.[12]

Early life and education

Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei was born on 8 September 1969 in Mashad as the second child of Ali Khamenei and Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh.[13][14] His five sibilings are Mostaga, his elder brother, Masoud and Meysam, his younger brothers, and Boshra and Hoda, his younger sisters. His paternal grandfather, Javad Khamenei, was a poor and low-income but deeply respected Shia cleric and scholar.

Khamenei has Azeri and Persian ancestry, with his Azeri roots being traced back to Khamaneh, a small town in East Azerbaijan where his surname originated from, and he also has distant roots from Tafresh.[15][16] His family traces its lineage to Husayn ibn Ali, the son of Ali, the first Shia Imam, and the maternal grandson of Prophet Muhammad, hence Khamenei's middle name Hosseini (spelled Husayni in Arabic; meaning "descendant of Husayn").[17][18]

His childhood coincided with his father emerging as a leading revolutionary against the Iranian monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[19] During that time, he spent seven years in the cities of Sardasht and Mahabad in northwest Iran, where he received his early education.[20][21] After graduating from Alavi high school (in Tehran),[22] he studied Islamic theology. His early teachers included his own father and Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi.[13] He also first joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps around 1987 after finishing high school.[23]

In 1999, Khamenei continued his studies in Qom to become a cleric. Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani and Mohammad Bagher Kharazi were his teachers there.[13][24]

Personal life

Mojtaba Khamenei and his children on Quds Day in 2018
Mojtaba Khamenei and other members of the Qom Seminary, March 2016

Mojtaba teaches theology in the Qom Seminary.[25] Mojtaba Khamenei married Zahra Haddad-Adel in 2004.[26][27] Their first child was born in 2007.[28] According to the Iranian government in 2026, his wife and his parents were killed in the US–Israeli strikes.[7][29][30]

Controversies

Support for Ahmadinejad

Khamenei was affiliated with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,[31] and supported Ahmadinejad in the 2005 and 2009 controversial presidential elections.[32][33] Journalists stated that he may "have played a leading role in orchestrating" Ahmadinejad's electoral victory in 2009.[4][13]

Khamenei was speculated to have been "a key figure in orchestrating the crackdown against anti-government protesters" in June 2009.[34] He was believed to have been directly in charge of the paramilitary Basij, a blackout of his name in the regime press notwithstanding.[4]

In an open letter, Mehdi Karroubi, a reformist candidate in the 2009 election, accused Mojtaba Khamenei of conspiring to rig the election in Ahmadinejad's favor, referring to illegal interference of "a network".[35]

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad later accused Mojtaba Khamenei of embezzling from the state treasury.[36]

Wealth and alleged overseas real estate network

See also: Wealth of the Khamenei family

Mojtaba Khamenei is widely believed to control significant financial assets in banks such as Bank Ayandeh.[36][37]

A year-long investigation by Bloomberg, citing assessments from people familiar with the matter, reported in January 2026 that Khamenei is linked to an offshore financial network used to hold and move assets outside Iran. The reported holdings include high-value real estate in London and Dubai, as well as interests connected to shipping, banking relationships, and hospitality assets in Europe. According to the investigation, the assets were generally not held in Khamenei's name but structured through intermediaries and layered corporate entities across multiple jurisdictions. Some of these assets have since been sold or restructured amid increased scrutiny.[38]

Bloomberg identified Ali Ansari, an Iranian businessman sanctioned by the United Kingdom, as a central alleged facilitator in the network. Property records and corporate filings reportedly link Ansari and associated companies to several London properties, including residences on The Bishops Avenue, and to hotel ownership and management entities in Germany and other countries. Ansari has denied any financial or personal relationship with Mojtaba Khamenei and has stated that he intends to challenge the UK sanctions.[38]

The investigations further alleged that funds linked to the network largely originated from Iranian oil revenues and were routed through financial institutions in multiple jurisdictions, despite international sanctions imposed on Mojtaba Khamenei in 2019.[38]

On 14 January 2026, during the 2025–2026 Iranian protests, U.S. Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent announced that "millions and tens of millions" of dollars have been wired by Iran's leaders to financial institutions worldwide, and Israel's Channel 14 reported that $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency had been sent to an account in Dubai with the involvement of Khamenei (who alone sent approximately $328 million).[39]

Sanctions

In 2019, Mojtaba Khamenei was placed under US sanctions for acting in place of the Supreme Leader without ever being elected or appointed to any official position[40] and for working closely with the commander of the Quds Force, responsible for "covert operations including lethal aid, intelligence, financing, and training" of the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Popular Mobilization Forces Iraq and others;[41] and for fostering close ties with the Basij paramilitary group as well as advancing "his father's destabilizing regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives."[40]

Candidacy for Supreme Leadership

Several analysts considered Mojtaba as a possible successor to his father.[4][6] This was thought by some to present a problem, for the Supreme Leader needs to be elected by the Assembly of Experts from among senior Shia Islamic scholars, but it has been noted that the inaugural Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, exerted a strong influence in favour of the choice of Khamenei's father,[31] and unconfirmed reports state that Ali Khamenei had opposed nominating his son as successor.[42][43] The Los Angeles Times reported in 2009 that Mojtaba's religious and political stature may not have been enough for Ali Khamenei to have ultimately named his son as his successor[32] and the Assembly of Experts is considered by The Atlantic to be a ceremonial body without any real power.[44][45]

Inadequate religious credentials

The Iranian constitution dictates the adherance to Khomeini's interpretation of the principle of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist (velayat-e faqih).[46] According to this interpretation, the Supreme Leader must be a Mujtahid, capable of interpreting Sharia law,[47] and have attained the highest level of Shia clergy.[46] As a Source of Emulation (marja e-taghlid) he is required to hold the rank of Grand Ayatollah or Imam, stand at the helm of a religious seminary (Hawza) and issue decrees on the practice of Sharia law are which are observed by followers and clergy of lower rank.[46] Mojtaba is a Hojjatoleslam, a rank below Ayatollah,[33] nor is he a Mujtahed, and he lacks the executive and administrative experience required by the constitution of the Islamic Republic.[48]

The Guardian argues that "The strength of Mojtaba's following has not been demonstrated", and while he wears clerical robes he "by no means has the theological status" to rise to Supreme Leader.[4]

Opposition to dynastic succession

During the presidency of Ebrahim Raisi, Mojtaba was one of the clerics speculated as a possible successor as supreme leader.[49][50] However, he was considered unlikely to succeed his father.[51][52][53][54][55][31][56] The Middle East Institute opined that Khamenei appointing his own son as successor would cause conflict within the Iranian political and religious leadership,[57] as it would be a sign that the revolutionary Islamic system of government had evolved to dynastic rule.[58] Shia theological principles prohibit such a succession, and both Mojtaba and previous Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have voiced their opposition to it.[59]

Early March 2026

See also: 2026 Iranian Supreme Leader election

Mojtaba Khamenei is one of the likely candidates to replace his father as the new Supreme Leader. According to Iran International, Mojtaba Khamenei is preferred by the IRGC, which pressured Assembly of Experts members to elect him on 3 March, by "in-person meetings and phone calls".[11][60] There was strong opposition from some members of the council,[61] including eight who stated that they would boycott a second online electoral meeting planned for 5 March.[60] Mehmet Ozalp stated in The Conversation that, following Mojtaba Khamenei's election, he "[might] lean more heavily on the might of the IRGC" than his father did.[62] The Daily Telegraph predicted that he would view the United States "implacable enemy" and would be likely to escalate the conflict and unlikely to make any compromises.[63]

On 5 March 2026, US President Donald Trump responded to the reports that Mojtaba Khamenei is tipped for elections by saying: "They are wasting their time. Khamenei's son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment [...]".[64] Trump also said that the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei is "unacceptable".[65]

See also

  • Wealth of Khamenei family
  • Khamenei family

Notes

  1. ^ Persian: مجتبی حسینی خامنه‌ای

References

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Media related to Mojtaba Khamenei at Wikimedia Commons