There is a speculation about who will replace Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei as the Supreme Leader of Iran as his physical conditions often deteriorate. The Iranian media reports suggest that Tehran has secretly initiated the process of choosing the successor of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and most probably the next Supreme Leader will be Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei (b. September 8, 1969), an Iranian Shia cleric and the second son of Ali Khamenei! Mojtaba served in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) and reportedly took control of the Basij militia that had suppressed the nation-wide protests over the 2009 Presidential Elections.

According to sources close to Tehran, the 85-year-old Ali Khamenei may retire before his death and hand over the charge to his successor. He has decided to select his successor himself! On his instructions, a special council of 60 members held a surprise meeting on September 26, 2024 mainly to decide the candidature of Mojtaba. Although the members expressed various opinions, the council unanimously chose Mojtaba as the next Ayatollah in the end. Quoting a Persian media outlet, YNet News reported: “Despite initial opposition to both the decision and the process, the Assembly ultimately reached a unanimous agreement to designate Mojtaba as the successor following the leader’s and his representatives’ insistence, which allegedly included direct threats.“

The question arises here: Why has Iran maintained so much secrecy? Political analysts have opined that the internal situation in the Islamic Republic is not quite good because of the ongoing conflict with Israel. In such a situation, protests may rock the country if the name of the new Supreme Leader is made public. It is because the majority of people in Iran are not ready to accept the 55-year-old Mojtaba as their next Supreme Leader. He does not appear in public much as he has been preparing himself for serving as the Supreme Leader for the past couple of years. A section of experts in International Relations is of the opinion that Mojtaba has considerable influence on Iranian politics even from behind the scene.

Mojtaba had backed the sixth Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and was allegedly involved in securing Ahmadinejad’s victory in the 2009 Presidential Elections. Following Ahmadinejad’s win, protests rocked the West Asian nation in June 2009, with Mojtaba reportedly playing a key role in leading efforts to suppress the anti-government demonstrations. However, the relationship between Mojtaba and Ahmadinejad deteriorated when the latter accused the former of embezzling funds from the State Treasury!

It may be noted that the succession process was relatively smooth after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (May 17, 1900 or September 24, 1902 – June 3, 1989) because of the presence of fourth President of Iran Ali Akbar Hashimi Bahramani Rafsanjani (August 25, 1934 – January 8, 2017). Rafsanjani, who could unite Centre, Right and Left-wing officials, was the kingmaker and played an important role in the rise of Ali Khamenei. Hence, there was little resistance. However, Ali Khamenei’s successor would experience a more difficult succession as there is no one, like Rafsanjani, in the power centre, currently. The Iranian people dislike many close to Khamenei’s power orbit.

Mojtaba came to the limelight after the death of former hardline President Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati (better known as Ebrahim Raisi) in a helicopter crash on May 19, 2024. Raisi was known to be close to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In fact, he had been groomed for the job of the Supreme Leader. However, Raisi’s demise further complicated the matter of succession in Iran. Currently, Mojtaba oversees most of the work of Khamenei’s Office.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das