Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s second son Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei is in the spotlight since Iran’s Assembly of Experts chose the 56-year-old as Iran’s new supreme leader, Iran International reported. As per the report, the decision was taken under pressure from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Mojtaba, who has never held office, is not a high-ranking cleric and does not have an official role in the regime. However, it is believed that he exercises considerable influence behind the scenes. During the Iran–Iraq war, he served in the Iranian armed forces.
Mojtaba, who is known to have strong links to the IRGC, was married to daughter of an Iranian conservative politician and former Chairman of the Parliament, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel. Mojtaba’s wife Zahra Haddad-Adel was reported to have been killed recently when the US and Israel attacked Iran in a joint operation.
The pair reportedly tied the knot in 2004 and have three children together. However, not many details about his family are available in the public domain.
Poised to take over the crucial position left vacant following father’s killing, Mojtaba was not Ali Khamenei’s choice. It is important to note that Mojtaba’s name was not included in the list of potential successors prepared by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last year. The elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei indicates that Iran’s ruling administration decided to preserve continuity amid war, even though a father-son succession is not seen positively in Iran’s Shiite Muslim clerical establishment.
Before the decision about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s successor was announced, Iran’s Assembly of Experts said that the decision about new supreme leader would be based on religious criteria and the body’s own judgment rather than individual preferences or political factions, Iran International reported. According to Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the body was inclined to select a person similar to Khamenei.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday said that an interim leadership council were running the country following Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s killing. It consisted of Iranian President, Judiciary Chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei and a Guardian Council member, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi.
One of the Khamenei family’s surviving members, Mojtaba lost his father, mother, sister, nephew, sister-in-law and brother-in-law in the US-Israel strikes.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s Net worth
Even though Mojtaba’s exact net worth is not known, but accounts indicate that he executes a vast investment empire oversees and is reportedly a multi-millionaire.
The US sanctioned Mojtaba in 2019 but Bloomberg report alleged that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s second son still managed to build a global property empire. According to the report he channeled funds to the tune of billions of dollars, into western markets. His financial assets include a British luxury property worth over $138 million and Swiss bank accounts, the report said.
A senior investigations lead at Transparency International UK, Ben Cowdock, had denounced Mojtaba’s investments in the United Kingdom. Criticizing Mojtaba’s investments, he had said, “It’s increasingly clear that those close to Iran’s political leaders have invested heavily in the UK.” He further noted, “Our property market should not serve as a safe deposit box for cronies who finance repressive regimes.”
