IRGC Pressures Assembly of Experts to Elect Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran's New Supreme Leader

After an online election process conducted under intense IRGC pressure, Iran's Assembly of Experts elects Mojtaba Khamenei — son of the assassinated supreme leader — as Iran's third supreme leader, consolidating the theocracy's war footing.

The election for Iran's new supreme leader took place under extraordinary circumstances. Unable to meet in person due to ongoing US-Israeli strikes on Tehran, the Assembly of Experts was forced to convene online starting March 3. IRGC commanders made repeated contacts with assembly members, applying psychological and political pressure to elect Mojtaba Khamenei, 56 the second son of the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Mojtaba had never run for public office and had long operated in the shadows of the Islamic Republic, cultivating deep ties to the Revolutionary Guard and wielding influence over regime administrators. On March 9, he was officially announced as Iran's third supreme leader. His health and precise whereabouts remained unclear; Iranian state media acknowledged he had been wounded in the February 28 strikes. In his first written statement, read aloud on state television on March 12, Mojtaba praised Iran's armed forces, vowed to continue fighting until Iran's conditions were met, and demanded reparations from the US and Israel. His ascension was widely seen as a signal that the IRGC had cemented its grip on Iran's government.