Iran’s Assembly of Experts has named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader, state media reported on Sunday (March 8, 2026).
Mr. Mojtaba, a mid-ranking cleric with close ties to the powerful Revolutionary Guards, had long been viewed by elements of Iran’s ruling establishment as a potential successor to his father, who was killed after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
His wife, Zahra Haddad-Adel, daughter of a former speaker of parliament, also died in the U.S.-Israeli strikes according to Iranian authorities.
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Although Iran’s ruling ideology frowns on the principle of hereditary succession, he has a powerful following within the Guards and his dead father’s still-influential office.
