Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei named Iran’s next supreme leader

It would be ironic if Khamenei's son joins his dad later this week.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei named Iran’s next supreme leader

By Anna Young, NY Post

Published March 8, 2026

Mojtaba Khamenei — the son of slain Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — has been tapped as the regime’s next supreme leader, Iranian state media announced Sunday.

The 56-year-old new leader — who has been dismissed by President Trump as a “lightweight” — was chosen by the nation’s elite clerical panel known as the Assembly of Experts just eight days after his 86-year-old father was killed in US-Israeli strikes on his Tehran compound during Operation Epic Fury.

Other strikes in the joint military attack have also killed roughly 40 other high-ranking Islamic Republic leaders.

While Mojtaba has been the favored successor to oversee Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Trump said earlier this week that he was struggling to imagine him taking over the Iranian regime.

Iran’s next supreme leader ‘is not going to last long’ without US approval, Trump warns

An Iranian man holding a picture of Mojtaba Khamenei during the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran.

“They are wasting their time,” the president told Axios on Thursday, referring to leaders leaning toward Mojtaba.

“Khamenei’s son is a lightweight.

“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,’’ he said.