Is picking the surviving son as new Iran leader a 'symbolic gesture?'
Is picking the surviving son as new Iran leader a 'symbolic gesture?'
Terry Collins, USA TODAYWed, March 11, 2026 at 4:40 PM UTC
0
Tapping Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran's supreme leader more than a week after the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was a matter of necessity, according to two experts on Iranian politics.
After a group of clerics named the son to the top post amid the escalating U.S.-Israel war on Iran, Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow specializing in Iranian politics for the Middle East Institute, told USA TODAY that Mojtaba Khamenei's "name has been mentioned for years as a potential successor, but his father was always against him taking the helm.
"This wasn’t preordained, but the conditions allowed for it," Vatanka said.
Meanwhile, Mojtaba Khamenei's selection has angered President Donald Trump, who believes he and his adminstration should have had a say in choosing the next Iranian leader.
An Iranian diplomat confirmed to The Guardian on March 11 that the 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in the initial Feb. 28 airstrikes that killed his father and several family members. The younger Khamenei has yet to make a public statement since he was named as successor.
Hadi Ghaemi, founder and executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), believes Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to offer Iran "some sense of political stability," as the chaos of war and bombardment ensues.
Ghaemi said it's possible Khamenei is "maybe being kept in hiding, which only adds more uncertainty and speculation to his whereabouts."
Ghaemi describes Mojtaba Khamenei as an "enigma who isn't going to be the charismatic leader like his father," who was known for his long lectures and his "ability to inspire people through his rhetoric."
A week ago, Vatanka thought that Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, a key member of a newly formed three-man leadership council to assume power until Khamenei’s successor is selected, was the frontrunner as Iran's new supreme leader.
But Iran's Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 Shia Muslim clerics, was charged with choosing the new leader. They selected Mojtaba Khamenei, a mid-ranking cleric with influence within Iran's security forces and major business ties, and also considered him a hard-liner, similar to his father, Vatanka said.
1 / 0Supporters of strikes, regime change in Iran celebrate worldwide
Anti-Iranian regime protesters wave a giant Iranian flag before the 1979 revolution with the Lion and Sun emblems (R), an Israeli flag (L) and a US flag (rear C) as they gather during a march in support of the US and Israel attack on Iran and the killing of Iran's supreme leader, in Paris on March 1, 2026. Iranian state television confirmed the death of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, 2026, after US President said he had been killed. The announcement came after the United States and Israel started launching waves of strikes against targets in Iran, sparking swift retaliation by the Islamic republic.
Prodigal son: Who is Mojtaba Khamenei? What we know about Iran's new supreme leader
Experts differ on why Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen Iran's supreme leader
Vatanka believes Mojtaba Khamenei was selected as a ceremonial gesture because he lost his father and mother, his wife, and other family members during the war's initial strike on Feb. 28.
Advertisement
"He’s just a symbolic figure, for now," said Vatanka about Mojtaba Khamenei. "The U.S. killed his dad, and that gave the hardliners a motive to speed things up, to push him up to leadership."
Ghaemi sees it differently. In his view, Mojtaba Khamenei grew up with "a cabal of oligarchs," who now run the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and oversee that nation's military and economy.
"We first heard of him and his machinations around 2005 as a lot of Iran's domestic policies have been associated with him," Ghaemi said about Mojtaba Khamenei. "He was very much like where (Vladimir) Putin was in the KGB hierarchy before he became Russia's leader."
Mojtaba Khamenei will grow into Iranian leadership, experts believe
Both Vatanka and Ghaemi believe that the Islamic Revolutionary will call most of the shots in Iran's war against the United States and Israel for the time being as Mojtaba Khamenei presumably settles into the leadership role.
"Holding the title itself doesn't automatically give you power; it will take some time," Vatanka said. "He owes the job to the revolutionary guards; they put him there. They fire the missiles; they fire the drones."
The Revolutionary Guards and the supreme leaders' office complement one another at times, Vatanka added.
"I think that it’s that cabal running the show," Ghaemi said. "They have the most to lose if the Islamic Republic falls."
A picture of Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is displayed on a screen in Tehran on March 9, 2026.
Iran war live updates: Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei confirmed wounded, report says
Trump angered over Iran's pick of new leader
Iran's pick of the younger Khamenei as its new leader has left Trump upset.
"I think they made a big mistake," said Trump about Khamenei's son being named to run the government during an interview with NBC News on March 9. "I don’t know if it’s going to last. I think they made a mistake."
Vatanka said Iranian hardline leaders wanted a quick succession in choosing the younger Khamenei to the top as they seek revenge for the ongoing war. Vatanka cited Trump's statement on ABC News on March 8 that the new leader "is not going to last long" if the Iranians didn't get his approval first.
"I think Trump likely wants to kill him," Vatanka concluded about Iran's new leader. "What else can be said?"
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iran's new supreme leader is not 'preordained,' experts say
Source: “AOL Breaking”
