Iran names Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, as new supreme leader

Mangalore Today News Network

Iran, Mar 9, 2026: Iran’s Assembly of Experts has confirmed that Mojtaba Khamenei will succeed his late father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader, Iranian state media reported on Sunday. By a decisive vote of its clerics, the assembly said the 56‑year‑old was “appointed and introduced as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The body added that it “did not hesitate for a minute” in choosing a successor, even amid what it described as “brutal aggression” by the United States and Israel.

Mojtaba, a mid‑ranking cleric with close ties to the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had long been seen by many in Iran’s ruling establishment as a likely successor to his father, who was killed in joint U.S.‑Israeli strikes earlier in the conflict.

Although Iran’s theocratic system traditionally rejects hereditary succession, Mojtaba retains strong backing within the Revolutionary Guards and from the enduring influence of his father’s office.

In response to the announcement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards pledged their allegiance, saying they are ready for “complete obedience and self‑sacrifice” in carrying out the directives of the new supreme leader.