Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was selected as Iran’s new supreme leader, Iran’s Assembly of Experts announced on Sunday.

Having lost several relatives in US and Israeli attacks and long lived under US sanctions, the new leader has consistently maintained a hard-line stance against the West. Experts say he could adopt an even tougher posture toward the United States and Israel than his father did. Here’s a quick overview of Mojtaba Khamenei’s background and global reactions to his election as the supreme leader.

Who is Mojtaba Khamenei?

Mojtaba Khamenei was born in the Iranian holy city of Mashhad in 1969. After Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, his family moved to the Iranian capital Tehran.

After graduating from high school, he joined the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and served during the final stages of the Iran-Iraq War. He later pursued religious studies in the central Iranian city of Qom and then became a political aide to his father.

Mojtaba Khamenei has long assisted his father in handling important state affairs, has a “deep understanding” of major administrative matters, and maintains working relationships with numerous senior officials across successive governments as well as senior military commanders, according to Iranian media reports.

In 2019, during Donald Trump’s first term as the US president, the US government placed Mojtaba Khamenei on its sanctions list, citing his role in carrying out some of the responsibilities of Iran’s supreme leader.

For years, he has been widely regarded as a leading contender to succeed his father, though he has kept a low public profile.

Why Mojtaba Khamenei?

A member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts said that Mojtaba Khamenei’s selection as the country’s new supreme leader was approved “by the majority of the Assembly of Experts.”

Mojtaba Khamenei has spent years building influence within Iran’s political and security apparatus. Palestinian political analyst Abdul Qader Hammad of Al-Aqsa University in Gaza noted his close ties to the IRGC, which bolster his credibility and make it possible to secure support from hard-line factions.

Familiarity with Iran’s political system also works in Mojtaba Khamenei’s favour. Hammad said that, having served as a key aide to the supreme leader for many years, Mojtaba Khamenei understands the processes behind major policy decisions, which could help facilitate a smooth transition of power.

In times of crisis, Iranian authorities have historically favoured leaders who are trusted and capable of maintaining political continuity. As the son of long-serving Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba Khamenei is widely seen as someone who could preserve the current trajectory of the country during uncertain times.

Global reactions to his appointment

Following the announcement, Iran’s IRGC immediately pledged allegiance to the new supreme leader, voicing its readiness to follow his instructions. Iranians on Monday attended large gatherings across the country to pledge allegiance to the Mojtaba Khamenei. Yemen’s Houthi group, which is backed by Iran, on Monday welcomed the decision, describing the move as a sign of unity and strength within the Islamic Republic.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Monday extended his best wishes to the newly elected supreme leader, voicing Iraq’s solidarity with Iran. Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said on Monday congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his appointment as Iran’s new supreme leader.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message to Mojtaba Khamenei on Monday, stating that Russia has been and will remain a reliable partner of Iran. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday the election of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s third supreme leader was a decision based on the country’s constitution.

US President Trump has told US news website Axios that it is “unacceptable” for Mojtaba Khamenei to become Iran’s new leader, noting that he himself must be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader.

Explainer: As younger Khamenei ascends in Iran, what lies ahead?

Two weeks into the war that claimed his parents, Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has been named his father’s successor, the country’s Assembly of Experts announced on Sunday.

With Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) immediately pledging allegiance, the appointment signals Tehran’s decision to cement its hard-line stance against the United States and Israel, pushing the region into uncharted waters.

Who is Mojtaba Khamenei?

Born in 1969, Mojtaba is the second son of Ali Khamenei and has long been a hardliner against the West. Although he has never held formal office, Mojtaba wields influence through close ties to senior clerics and the IRGC, hence is widely seen as his father’s gatekeeper and successor – effectively a “mini-supreme leader” – and has been sanctioned by the United States since 2019 for representing his father in an official capacity.

Vali R. Nasr, an expert on Iran and Shiite Islam at Johns Hopkins University, said that the choice of Mojtaba is the “choice of continuity with his father,” adding that “he is more ready than other candidates to quickly consolidate power and assert control over the system.”

Alan Eyre, a former US diplomat and Iran specialist, said Mojtaba is “more hard-line than his father,” noting that “he’s going to have a lot of revenge to exact.”

Similarly, Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC, said, “It’s a big humiliation for the United States to carry out an operation of this scale, risk so much and end up killing an 86-year-old man, only to have him replaced by his hard-line son.”

What is the US-Israeli reaction?

Washington and Jerusalem were already issuing stark warnings even before Mojtaba was formally appointed.

On Wednesday, Israel threatened that whoever Iran chooses as its new supreme leader would be “a target for elimination.”

The following day, US President Donald Trump echoed the hawkish stance, telling news outlet Axios that it is “unacceptable” to have Mojtaba to assume the role, noting that Trump himself must be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader.

Trump also signalled a similar position shortly before Mojtaba’s ascension. On Sunday, he told ABC News that Iran’s new leader “is not going to last long” without US approval. “He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump said. “If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long. We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it. I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again or worse, let them have a nuclear weapon,” he added.

Also on Sunday, Trump told The Times of Israel that ending the war with Iran will be a “mutual” decision made between him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I think it’s mutual … a little bit. We’ve been talking. I’ll make a decision at the right time but everything’s going to be taken into account,” Trump said, indicating that while Netanyahu will have input, the US president will have the final say.

A new dawn?

“This election marks a new dawn and the beginning of a new phase in the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic,” the IRGC said in a statement.

Paul Salem, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Mojtaba is not a figure poised to strike a deal with the United States or pivot diplomatically.

“Nobody emerging now is going to be able to compromise,” Salem said. “This is a hard-line choice, made in a hard-line moment.” Sun Degang, director of the Middle East Studies Centre at Fudan University, said that Mojtaba’s personal drive for family revenge aligns closely with a national sense of resentment and is expected to push him toward an even tougher stance against the United States and Israel, prolonging the ongoing conflict.

Patrick Clawson, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Mojtaba would likely embrace a strategy of “defiant consolidation” – that is, relying on the IRGC, seeking to expand missile strikes, continuing to support regional allies and accelerating Iran’s nuclear programme.

“Over the medium term, he and the IRGC may decide that Iran must move quickly to obtain nuclear weapons in order to forestall future US and Israeli attacks,” he said. “Whether this approach stabilizes the regime or accelerates fragmentation, it will shape the next phase of the conflict.”

• A Tell Media / Xinhua report