By Admin 
Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, son of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is in the news these days because he has been elected as the new supreme leader in place of his father. Many experts say that he seems to be at the forefront of this race. Mojtaba is the son of former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint attack by Israel and America.
Mojtab was born in Mashhad in 1969
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is the second son of Ali Khamenei. He was born in 1969 in Mashhad. This was the time when Iran was under Shah rule, about ten years before the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Close ties to the Revolutionary Guards
Mojtaba Khamenei is known for his close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC). After completing high school, he entered the Islamic Military Corps in 1987. He served in the last phase of the Iran-Iraq war which lasted from 1980 to 1988. The very next year in 1989, his father Ali Khamenei was appointed Supreme Leader of Iran after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini.
religious education and teaching
After this, Mojtaba Khamenei studied with the country’s great religious leaders in Qom. He also taught in a religious seminary. During this time he strengthened his relations with religious leaders. He also got special recognition because of his father’s position. Mojtaba never appeared in public much. He mostly worked behind the scenes. It is said that he also handled the operation of the Supreme Leader’s office from behind the scenes.
Allegations made in 2005 elections
When conservative leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in 2005, reformists accused Mojtaba of colluding with religious leaders and the Revolutionary Guards to play a role in Ahmadinejad’s victory.
Reformist leader Mehdi Karrubi had accused the ‘son of a master’ of interfering in the elections. At that time, Ali Khamenei had defended his son and said that he was ‘a master himself, not just the son of a master’.
Discussion on succession in 2024
In 2024, the Assembly of Experts met on the succession plan of the Supreme Leader. At that time Ali Khamenei had said that his son should be kept out of this idea.
Concern about family power
If Mojtaba is made the supreme leader, it may increase dissatisfaction in the country. In the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was removed from power and the tradition of dynastic rule was ended. In such a situation, many people will not like the son getting the post after the father. Especially those people who had protested earlier this year on economic issues, which later turned into a big movement against the government.
A sign of the hold of fundamentalists?
Some analysts believe that if Mojtaba is selected, it will signal that radicals associated with the Revolutionary Guards are still strong in power and that there is little chance of major changes in the future. According to the Iranian government, Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife Zahra Adel, his mother Mansoura Khojasteh Bagherzadeh and one of his sons were also killed along with Ali Khamenei in the recent attacks.