Iran’s Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body, announced on Sunday (March 8, 2026) night that it had chosen Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former Supreme Leader who was assassinated by a joint American-Israeli strike on February 28, as the country’s new leader.
The 57-year-old cleric will be the third Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the republic, and Ali Khamenei, who held the position for 37 years. Though Iran has an elected President, the Supreme Leader is the head of the state and the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, making him the most powerful authority in the system.
“By a decisive vote, the Assembly of Experts appointed Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Assembly said in a statement.
On February 28, after U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Ali Khamenei and several other top Iranian officials, President Donald Trump had asked Iranians to overthrow the government. On March 5, Mr. Trump said he wanted to have a role in the selection of Iran’s new Supreme Leader. He called Mojtaba Khamenei a “lightweight”, and said the new leader should be acceptable to him.
Soon after the Assembly made the announcement, Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement congratulating the new leader. “In the current and critical situation facing the country, this choice will undoubtedly guarantee our nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and will strengthen national unity and cohesion,” it said in a statement. Other branches of the state, including the armed forced, welcomed the appointment. Ali Larijani, Secretary of the National Security Council, said Mr. Khamenei “will be a source of goodness and blessings”.
Born in 1969 in Mashhad, Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of Ali Khamenei, fought “on the frontlines” during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, according to an official biography released by the state media. After the war, he moved to Qom for advanced seminary studies. He has built close ties with both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the clerical establishment.
The younger Khamenei has maintained strong ties with figures associated with the Axis of Resistance, stated the biography, referring to Iran’s non-state allies in the region. “He shared a particularly close relationship with Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” the Secretary General of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia, who was assassinated by an Israeli strike in September 2024. Hezbollah, which is fighting Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, issued a statement pledging loyalty to the new Supreme Leader.
Russia and China, Iran’s close partners, welcomed the new Supreme Leader.
“I would like to reaffirm our unwavering support for Tehran and solidarity with our Iranian friends,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message to Mr. Khamenei. “Russia has been and will remain a reliable partner to Iran. At a time when Iran is confronting armed aggression, your tenure in this high position will undoubtedly require great courage and dedication.”
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing on Monday that Iran’s decision to appoint the younger Khamenei was “based on its constitution”. “China opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs under any pretext, and Iran’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity should be respected,” he said when asked about the threats against the new leader, according to an AFP report.
Published - March 09, 2026 03:34 am IST
