Mojahed Khamenei
Mojahed Khamenei has been appointed the new Supreme Leader of Iran, following a decision by a council consisting of 88 spiritual representatives.
According to information published in the New York Times, Mojahed, who is 56 years old, is the second son of Ali Khamenei. He was born in 1969 in Mashhad, a well-known religious center of the country, ten years before the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
Since 1987, he began his career in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, joining the armed forces during the Iran-Iraq War, which lasted from 1980 to 1988.
In 1989, his father took the position of Supreme Leader, succeeding the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Mojahed continued his education under the guidance of leading clergy in Qom and taught at a religious seminary, which helped him establish connections with the religious leadership and gain their respect, partly due to his father's authority. In 2004, he married the daughter of the Chairman of the Majlis (parliament) of Iran, Gholam-Ali Adeli.
Despite his family ties, Mojahed remained in the shadows for a long time, managing the office of the Supreme Leader and rarely making headlines.
After the 2005 elections, when conservative candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president, reformists accused Mojahed of aiding his victory in collaboration with religious leaders and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Mehdi Karroubi, one of Ahmadinejad's opponents, criticized him for interfering in the electoral process, calling him "the son of the master." In response, the Supreme Leader defended his son, claiming that he is "the master himself, not just the son of the master."
In 2024, the Assembly of Experts discussed the succession of the Supreme Leader, at which point Ayatollah Khamenei stated that his son should not be a candidate for this position.
According to Reuters, Mojahed holds hardline conservative views, like his father, and supports strict policies towards the opposition and foreign enemies. He has never held official positions in the government of the Islamic Republic, but experts say he has wielded influence behind the scenes as someone close to his father.
His role in Iran's political life has long been a subject of controversy, as critics dismissed any hints of dynastic politics in the country. Mojahed, like his father, wears a black turban of a Sayyid, indicating that his family descends from the Prophet Muhammad.
In 2019, he was sanctioned by the United States.
In January 2026, Bloomberg reported that Mojahed manages an investment empire and has access to Swiss bank accounts and elite real estate in the UK valued at over $100 million, despite the existing US sanctions.
According to the Hindustan Times, he has three children with his wife Zahra Haddad-Adel. As a result of recent airstrikes, his wife, mother, and son were killed, as well as his father, according to the Iranian government.
