Mojtaba Khamenei will be the new Supreme Leader of Iran after his father's death

The Assembly of Experts of Iran would have officially designated Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the deceased ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, according to reports from the opposition media Iran International and other regional media. The formal announcement would be made after the funeral of his father, killed over the weekend in the joint bombings of the United States and Israel. The funeral ceremonies will begin in Tehran and culminate in Mashhad, the deceased leader's hometown.

An unprecedented succession in the midst of the war

Although the Iranian political system is not formally hereditary, the election of Mojtaba breaks with the clerical tradition by prioritizing the continuity of the family lineage at the most critical moment for the regime since the 1979 revolution.

We recommend reading:Qatar dismantled two spy cells linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard

Analysts agree that the designation would have been shielded by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which sought to ensure a leadership aligned with the hard line and with military response capacity after the attacks that decapitated part of the Iranian political and military leadership. Mojtaba, 56 years old, is a mid-ranking Shia cleric with strong ties to the Revolutionary Guard and the paramilitary group Basij. He never held a formal public office, but in 2019 he was sanctioned by the United States for acting as a representative of his father and collaborating with the Quds Force.

Attacks on strategic centers

The election takes place in a context of intense bombings on Tehran and Qom. According to Israeli media, the building of the Assembly of Experts in Qom was destroyed in an air strike while its 88 members were deliberating. The Israel Defense Forces also reported that they attacked the central operating complex of the regime in Tehran, including the presidential office and the Supreme National Security Council. Iran responded with air attacks against Israel and US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.  A Revolutionary Guard general warned that if the bombings continue, Tehran will attack "all economic centers" in the Middle East and threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which pushed the price of Brent above $85.

Mojtaba's Immediate Challenges

The new leader assumes office with the country under fire and an economy suffocated by sanctions and destruction of strategic infrastructure. Among its central challenges are:

• Coordinate the military response against the U.S. and Israel.
• Avoid internal fractures in the face of questions about a succession perceived as "dynastic."
• Manage the logistical collapse after the closure of airspace and the destruction of command centers.

From the White House, President Donald Trump pointed out that the "worst scenario" would be for the next Iranian leadership to repeat Khamenei's model. While the Pentagon clarified that the objective is not a regime change, the offensive will continue for several weeks, as anticipated by Washington. You can also read:

Khamenei's Shadow of Fortune

In parallel, journalistic investigations attribute to the deceased supreme leader a fortune estimated between 100,000 and 200,000 million dollars, managed through the organization Setad and financial networks in Europe and the Middle East. Recent reports mention real estate assets in London, Dubai, and Spain, as well as alleged financial links in Venezuela and other allied countries, although these accusations have been rejected by those close to the family environment. With the death of Ali Khamenei and the eventual consolidation of Mojtaba in power, the future of those assets and the stability of the regime are at the center of a crisis that has already redefined the political and military map of the Middle East.