Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s second son, Mojtab Hosseini Khamenei, has been in the spotlight since Iran’s Assembly of Experts selected the 56-year-old as Iran’s new supreme leader, Iran International reported. According to 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 has no official role in the regime. However, he is believed to wield considerable influence behind the scenes. He served in the Iranian Armed Forces during the Iran-Iraq War.
Mojtaba, who is known to have strong ties to the IRGC, was married to the daughter of Iran’s conservative politician and former parliament speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel. Mojtab’s wife, Zahra Haddad-Adel, was reportedly 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 key position left vacant by the killing of his father, Mojtaba was not Ali Khamenei’s choice. It is important to note that Mojtab’s name was not included in the list of potential successors drawn up by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last year. The elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei suggests that Iran’s ruling administration is determined to maintain continuity amid the war, even though the father-son succession is not viewed favorably in Iran’s Shiite Muslim clerical establishment.
Before the decision on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s successor was announced, Iran’s Assembly of Experts said the decision on the 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 the Iranian Assembly of Experts, this body was leaning towards choosing a Khamenei lookalike.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that an interim leadership council is leading the country following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It consisted of the Iranian president, the head of the judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, and a member of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Alireza Arafí.
Mojtaba, one of the surviving members of Khamenei’s family, lost several members of his family in the US-Israeli airstrikes, including his father, mother, sister, sister-in-law and brother-in-law.
Net worth of Mojtaba Khamenei
While Mojtaba’s exact net worth is unknown, accounts suggest he runs a vast investment empire and is said to be a multi-millionaire.
The US imposed sanctions on Mojtab in 2019, but a Bloomberg report claimed that the second son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei still managed to build a global empire. According to the report, he directed billions of dollars in funds to Western markets. His financial assets include a British luxury property worth over $138 million and Swiss bank accounts, the report said.
Ben Cowdock, head of investigations at Transparency International UK, condemned Mojtaba’s UK investments. Criticizing Mojtab’s property investments, he said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that people close to Iran’s political leaders have invested large sums in the UK.” He further noted, “Our real estate market should not serve as a safe deposit box for cronies who fund repressive regimes.”
