Iran’s Assembly of Experts has named Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader, state media reported on Sunday, March 8, 2026. Mojtaba, 56, is a mid-ranking cleric with close ties to the powerful Revolutionary Guards and has been viewed as a potential successor to his father.
The decision comes after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint US-Israeli strike on Tehran on February 28, 2026. US President Donald Trump has warned that Iran’s new leader won’t last long without US approval, saying “He’s going to have to get approval from us”.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment marks the first time since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that the country’s highest authority has passed from father to son.