Mojtaba Khamenei: Iran’s unseen leader shadowed by late father

A mourning banner of Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (right) and his late father Ali Khamenei.

PARIS – Mojtaba Khamenei, who has spent his career behind the scenes and is yet to appear in public as Iran’s new supreme leader, faces the formidable challenge of occupying the role held by his father for most of the Islamic Republic’s existence.

Iranians knew little about the younger Khamenei when he was named to the lifetime post shortly after a US-Israeli air strike killed his father Ali Khamenei, supreme leader since 1989, at the start of the Middle East war.

Said to have been wounded himself, Mojtaba Khamenei has issued over a dozen written messages as leader that have carried on his father’s confrontational ideology, taking aim at Israel and the United States.

In one of his most significant recent interventions, released on June 18, Mojtaba Khamenei said he had given his blessing to talks with the US to end the war despite having a “different view”, likely an attempt to stay above the domestic political fray.

Despite the messages and activity on social media channels, there has been no concrete proof that Mojtaba Khamenei is even alive after the Feb 28 attack that also killed his wife Zahra Haddad Adel and other members of the Khamenei family.

But several Iranian officials have said he was wounded, sparking speculation he could be waiting to recover fully before appearing in public, as well as being mindful of his own security.

With Ali Khamenei’s funeral starting on July 4, there will be intense scrutiny for signs of Mojtaba Khamenei emerging, and questions will mount if he fails to appear.

Unlike Ali Khamenei, a prominent opponent of the shah who was president in the first decade of the Islamic Republic from 1981 to 1989 before becoming supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei has never held a government position before.

But observers believe he was second in command at the Office of the Supreme Leader under the veteran chief gatekeeper Mohammad Golpayegani.

He is also seen as being close to the leadership of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, a connection that may have proved crucial in his selection by the Assembly of Experts clerical body.

One of the few official insights into the importance of Mojtaba Khamenei came in November 2019, when the US Treasury announced sanctions against him and other senior Iranian officials, including Golpayegani, on the grounds that they were pushing Iran’s “radical” agenda around the world.

The US said he was designated for representing Ali Khamenei “in an official capacity despite never being elected or ap