Iran Names Mojtaba Khamenei Supreme Leader After Israel Killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran’s theocratic leadership has changed amid intense regional fighting after the strike that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Mojtaba Khamenei, who had long been seen as a contender for leadership, assumes the position despite never being elected or holding an official government post”

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State and international outlets report that Iran’s Assembly of Experts named Mojtaba Khamenei — a 56‑year‑old son of the late Ayatollah — as the country’s new supreme leader in the days after the killing.

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The appointment was announced on state television and presented as a wartime transfer of authority that follows the strike at the start of the conflict.

Profiles assembled by multiple outlets describe Mojtaba Khamenei as a relatively secretive, long-standing insider with close ties to the Revolutionary Guard who has never held elected office.

Reports place his birth in Mashhad in 1969, note religious study in Qom, and trace IRGC service around the end of the Iran–Iraq war.

Anadolu Agency

Major outlets stress that he had been considered a potential successor for some time despite lacking formal governmental posts, underlining his behind-the-scenes role prior to the appointment.

Reporting emphasized the new supreme leader’s formal powers and the Assembly’s vote.

Outlets say Mojtaba now holds ultimate authority over Iran’s state institutions, the military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and gains control over Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and war strategy.

Sources report the Assembly of Experts presented the choice as having been made by "strong" votes, while critics warn the succession risks creating a more hereditary, theocratic leadership consolidated around IRGC-aligned networks.

Reporting is not wholly uniform about responsibility for the strike that precipitated this succession and about some of the most deadly incidents during the opening phase of the war.

Several outlets explicitly attribute the killing of Ali Khamenei to an Israeli strike or airstrike, while at least one major outlet describes it as a U.S.-Israeli strike.

Associated Press News

Other reporting highlights conflicting initial accounts for specific deadly incidents, such as an elementary school strike where U.S. and presidential statements differ from preliminary U.S. investigative findings.

The appointment comes amid a sharp escalation of regional violence and mounting casualties.

“DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran’s late supreme leader, has been named his successor, Iranian state TV announced early Monday, as the war that began a little over a week ago with his father’s killing took a dramatic turn”

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Multiple outlets report high death tolls, cross‑border strikes, evacuations and U.S. service‑member deaths.

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Reports cite hundreds killed in Lebanon from Israeli strikes and large numbers of casualties in Iran from strikes.

Reports cite at least seven U.S. military fatalities; states have ordered evacuations and several U.S. missions shifted staff or instructed departures as the conflict widened.

Political reactions were immediate and polarized, with Iranian state media and some domestic actors shown backing the selection and urging unity.

Critics at home and abroad warned of consolidation of hard-line power.

Internationally, U.S. leaders openly criticized the choice, with President Trump calling Mojtaba Khamenei “unacceptable,” saying he wants input on Iran’s postwar leadership and warning any leader chosen without his approval “is not going to last long.”

Israel signaled it would pursue successors and individuals involved in the selection, raising risks of further targeting and escalation.