What new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s selection says about Iran’s plans for the war

Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi, responded that “we will allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs”. What is known about Mojtaba, and what does the choice say about Iran’s outlook on the war?

Not as public-facing, but strong IRGC links

Iran has a complex political system, with a president who holds some power, and bodies like the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which is a powerful branch of the armed forces. As the name suggests, the Supreme Leader sits at the very top of this structure.

Mojtaba, 56, will be Iran’s third Supreme Leader after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1979-89) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1989-2026). He has never held political office and is not a senior religious leader.

AK Ramakrishnan, a former professor of West Asian studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told The Indian Express that the main factors that propelled his elevation (apart from his lineage) were his association with the IRGC and the war itself.

He said, “Mojtaba is a very significant figure because he was vested with the responsibility of managing IRGC matters within the Supreme Leader’s office. His rise has also happened because of the ongoing war and the IRGC being at its forefront.

If it were any other situation, there would have been greater competition for the supreme leadership because of the growing opposition within Iran. A person not attached to either the hardliners or the reformists (the two main ideological factions in Iran) would have been chosen, showing some inclination within the Islamic Republic to transform itself.”

Ramakrishnan added, “Because of the war, the hardline choice becomes the natural one. Just recently, the reformist President, Masoud Pezeshkian, apologised to the Gulf nations for Iranian attacks, which was followed by the IRGC emphasising it would consider US military bases in the region as primary targets.” Someone was thus needed to tilt the scales in favour of the hardliners.

Ali Hashem, a research affiliate for Islamic and West Asian studies at the University of London, detailed Mojtaba’s IRGC links for Foreign Policy magazine: “His ties to the IRGC… go back to the Iran-Iraq War, when Mojtaba Khamenei served in the Habib Ibn Mazahir Battalion, a volunteer group linked to revolutionary networks that later became part of Iran’s security forces. Many among his fellow soldiers later took senior roles in the IRGC and intelligence services. These wartime relationships helped establish Mojtaba’s position within the system’s most powerful institutions.”

“Over time, Mojtaba Khamenei built influence in three main areas: the clerical establishment, the security forces, and the political networks around the supreme leader’s office,” he wrote.

Demonstrators hold flags and a photograph of Iran’s late Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as they attend a Stop the War Coalition march in London, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Hereditary succession concerns, but strong symbolism

That being said, Ramakrishnan noted that Iran doesn’t have a lineage-based system, and the 1979 Islamic revolution actually sought to end that model. He said, “This was a lost opportunity to show the people that the system is flexible and willing to heed the demands of the people.”

In the past, discussions about Khamenei’s succession had included Mojtaba, but it was reported that the Ayatollah was not keen on introducing a lineage-based element into the system.

In terms of religious standing, too, Mojtaba does not hold the senior rank of Ayatollah yet, but that was also true of his father in 1989, when he came to power. He was then Hojjat al-Islam, which is one rank below Ayatollah. Mojtaba held a mid-level clerical position and will now be accorded the rank of Ayatollah.

“Mojtaba is basically a product of the Qom seminary, which was earlier led by Ayatollah Khomeini himself. Ali Khamenei was also in Qom, and Mojtaba taught there,” said Ramakrishnan.

But there may be other religious links to the selection, too. Hashem wrote that given the value attached to the concept of martyrdom within Shia Islam, and as a pillar of the Iranian regime’s political legitimacy, the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei can be invoked. The symbolism of sacrifice “can serve as a powerful tool for consolidating authority and framing political continuity as part of an ongoing struggle,” he wrote.

Iran digs in

Despite the repeated warnings from the US and Israel, alongside internal dissatisfaction with the regime, what does the choice indicate for Iran going forward? At this juncture, it shows an attempt to rally support around someone who represents continuity and a hardline regime.

Ramakrishnan pointed to the role that other senior leaders are playing in the conflict, including Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. He is Western-educated, and among the leaders who “traversed between Islamic and Western learning.”

The choice of Mojtaba, however, shows that for the regime in Iran, “It is a kind of existential war. They believe that they have to fight till the end, so they want somebody in the leadership who is willing to do that,” he said.