The cleric has been presented by some as acting behind the scenes to pull strings at the heart of power in Iran
2-MIN READ2-MIN1 ListenAgence France-PressePublished: 6:19am, 9 Mar 2026Born on September 8, 1969, in the holy city of Mashhad in eastern Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei is one of six children of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed just over a week ago at the age of 86 during US-Israeli air strikes.
Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen by Iran’s Assembly of Experts to succeed his father as supreme leader, in a sign that hardliners were still firmly in charge.
Because of his discretion at official ceremonies and in the media, Mojtaba Khamenei’s true influence has been the subject of intense speculation for years among the Iranian population as well as in diplomatic circles.
He is the only child of the former supreme leader to hold a public position despite having no official post.
The cleric, who has a salt-and-pepper beard and the black turban of the “seyyed”, descendants of the Prophet Mohammed, has been presented by some as acting behind the scenes to pull strings at the heart of power in Iran.
He is regarded as close to conservatives, notably because of his ties with the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic’s military.
