Mojtaba Khamenei appears to have been named the new supreme leader of Iran after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in U.S.-Israeli attacks, according to Iranian state media reports that surfaced overnight on Monday. The 56‑year‑old cleric has never held a governmental position and survived the airstrikes on the country.
The appointment was made unanimously by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 elected senior clerics charged with selecting the supreme leader. Since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979, the Assembly has chosen a new leader only once, when Ali Khamenei was appointed after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s death.
Following Ali Khamenei’s death, a temporary three‑person leadership council was formed to govern the nation. The council consisted of Masoud Pezeshkian, the reformist president; Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the hard‑liner chief of the judiciary; and Alireza Arafi, a jurist and head of the Basij volunteer militia.