The appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new Supreme Leader represents one of the most consequential political shifts in the Islamic Republic in more than three decades. For the first time since the 1979 Revolution, supreme authority has passed directly from father to son. The Assembly of Experts confirmed Mojtaba around a week after the killing of his father, Ali Khamenei, in a US-Israeli strike that wiped out a substantial portion of Iran’s senior leadership. With that decision, days of speculation over a possible vacuum at the summit of power were brought to a close, at a moment when Iran had already entered a major war.
Who is Iran's new Supreme Leader? How was he shaped, and what ideas define him? What is his relationship with Iran’s institutions? What scenarios lie ahead for the country? And what form will the day after the war take?
Mojtaba Khamenei: Iran's third Supreme Leader is the title of Al Majalla’s new cover story, in which we examine the subject from every angle.
Read more:
1. Iran, Mojtaba and the future of the Islamic Republic by Alex Vatanka
2. Operation ‘Epic Wrath’ and the 2026 Elections by Abdullah F. Alrebh
3. Why regime change in Iran is unlikely by Christopher Phillips
4. Iran’s defiant regime picks a new supreme leader by The Economist
5. A protracted Iran war multiplies risks for Trump by Brian Katulis
6. The US-Iran war could empower the IRGC by Alex Vatanka
