Iran's new supreme leader remains out of sight as nation mourns his father

Highlights:

• Mojtaba absent from Khamenei funeral ceremonies
• Security cited as leader remains out of public view
• Officials say wounded supreme leader is recovering
• Guards backed Mojtaba's rise despite opposition
• Mojtaba never held a formal government role before appointment

As Iran held state funeral ceremonies for slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the man chosen to succeed him — his son, Mojtaba Khamenei — remained nowhere to be seen, fuelling speculation about his health and ability to project authority.

While three of his brothers emerged publicly to mourn their father, who was killed in the US-Israeli war against Iran in February, Mojtaba stayed out of public view. Authorities have cited security concerns for the new supreme leader's absence from the week-long ceremonies.

Unlike his father, who dominated Iran's public life for nearly four decades, the 56-year-old cleric maintained a largely shadowy profile in the years leading up to his selection as supreme leader by a powerful clerical assembly in March.

Severely wounded in the strike that killed his father, Mojtaba has not appeared in public, delivered a speech or granted an interview, communicating with the nation instead through a handful of written messages.

However, two Iranian officials said Mojtaba remains actively involved in decision-making and that "his wounds are healing fast". President Masoud Pezeshkian said in May that he had met with the supreme leader.

In one of his few public interventions in politics since taking office, Mojtaba cautiously endorsed a memorandum of understanding signed last month by the Iranian and US presidents aimed at ending the war.

Mojtaba amassed power under his father as a senior figure closely connected to Iran's security forces and the vast business empire they control.

His close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have given him influence across Iran's political and security establishment, while helping him build a reputation as his father's powerful behind-the-scenes "gatekeeper", according to sources familiar with the matter.

The Guards pushed for Mojtaba's elevation

Senior Iranian sources told Reuters in March that the Guards pushed through his elevation as supreme leader, seeing him as a more pliant version of his father who would support their hardline policies.

The sources said the Guards overcame resistance from senior political and clerical figures, some uneasy that Mojtaba lacked the religious credentials traditionally associated with Iran's highest office, others alarmed by the optics of a son succeeding his father as supreme leader in a republic born from the overthrow of a hereditary monarch.

But when he was named Iran's third supreme leader, Mojtaba was simultaneously elevated to the rank of ayatollah from Hojjatoleslam, with no official explanation for the promotion.

A senior Iranian official described Mojtaba as "very close" to parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who also is Iran's lead negotiator in talks with the United States.

"He has strong constituency and support within the IRGC, in particular amongst the younger radical generations," said Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, a US-based advocacy group.

As supreme leader, Mojtaba has the final say on all major matters of state, including foreign policy, national security and Iran's nuclear programme.

Yet he could face resistance from Iranians who have repeatedly taken to the streets to demand greater social and political freedoms despite often violent crackdowns by the authorities.

Born in 1969 in the Shi'ite holy city of Mashhad, Mojtaba grew up as his father helped lead the opposition movement against the US-backed Shah. As a young man, he served during the Iran-Iraq War.

He later studied under conservative clerics in the seminaries of Qom, the centre of Shi'ite religious learning in Iran, attaining the clerical rank of Hojjatoleslam.

Despite his influence during his father's rule, Mojtaba has never held a formal government position. Although he has occasionally appeared at pro-establishment gatherings, he has rarely spoken publicly.

Mojtaba hit by US sanctions over work with father, IRGC

The US Treasury imposed sanctions on Mojtaba in 2019, saying he represented the supreme leader in "an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position" beyond his work in his father's office.

According to the Treasury, Ali Khamenei delegated some responsibilities to Mojtaba, who worked closely with commanders of the IRGC's Quds Force and the Basij militia "to advance his father's destabilising regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives".

Mojtaba became a particular focus of public anger during nationwide protests triggered by the 2022 death of a young woman in police custody after her arrest for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code.

In 2024, a widely circulated video showed him announcing the suspension of Islamic jurisprudence classes he taught in Qom, fuelling speculation about the reasons behind the move.

Mojtaba bears a striking resemblance to his father and wears the black turban of a "seyyed", denoting a family lineage traced to the Prophet Mohammad.

A 2007 US diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks cited three Iranian sources describing Mojtaba as a key channel of access to his father.

His wife, who was killed in the attack on February 28, was the daughter of prominent hardline politician and former parliament speaker Gholamali Haddadadel, further strengthening his ties to the upper ranks of the Islamic Republic's political elite.