Mojtaba Khamenei, who has been chosen as Iran's new supreme leader, has long been seen as one of the most influential figures inside the country's ruling system.
However, the son of late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has never held government office and lacks the senior religious credentials typically expected of the role.
As supreme leader, his father stood above the president and had the final say over Iran’s armed forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He was killed in US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on February 28.
There have been reservations in the past about Mojtaba taking over because it would mean the state resembles a monarchy, which the Islamic revolution of 1979 had toppled.
Who is Mojtaba?
Mojtaba, the second-oldest son of the late Ayatollah, was born in Mashhad in 1969. He studied Islamic theology after high school and continued his religious studies in Qom in 1999 to become a mid-ranking cleric.
Eric Mandel, director of the Middle East Political and Information Network, describes the 56-year-old as a central but opaque figure in Tehran’s power structure.
“Mojtaba has long operated behind the scenes in Tehran”, he told opposition outlet Iran International.
Over the years, opposition figures and political rivals have accused Mojtaba of playing a role in shaping election outcomes and co-ordinating crackdowns on dissent.
Mojtaba reportedly has close ties to the IRGC dating back to the Iran-Iraq war, when he served in the Habib Battalion alongside volunteers connected to the Islamic Republic’s emerging revolutionary networks.
Those wartime relationships are widely believed to have helped Mojtaba build lasting connections inside Iran’s powerful security establishment, Iran International says.
Mr Khamenei will become only the third person to lead Iran and the first example of hereditary succession since the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy in the 1979 revolution.
Israel's warning
The Israeli army said it will pursue any successor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint US and Israeli operation last month.
“I would like to emphasise that the long arm of the state of Israel will continue to pursue the successor and anyone who tries to appoint him,” an army representative said amid state media reports that a consensus was reached on Mojtaba's appointment. “We warn everyone planning to participate in the session to select the successor: We will not hesitate to target you as well.”
Last week, Israel issued a warning to Tehran, saying any leader appointed by the regime “will be an unequivocal target for elimination”.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement: “Any leader appointed by the Iranian terrorist regime to continue leading the plan to destroy Israel, to threaten the United States and the free world and the countries of the region, and to suppress the Iranian people – will be an unequivocal target for elimination. No matter what his name is or where he hides.
“We will continue to act with all our might, together with our American partners, to crush the regime's capabilities and create the conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow and replace it.”
US involvement
US President Donald Trump has said he believes Washington should be involved in selecting Iran’s next ruler.
Iran was “wasting its time” if it tried to appoint a successor without US involvement, Mr Trump told Axios and Reuters last week. He acknowledged that Mojtaba Khamenei was widely regarded as the most likely successor but dismissed that possibility, calling him a “lightweight.”
“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Mr Trump told Axios, warning that choosing a leader who continued the previous government’s policies could lead to renewed conflict with the US “in five years”.
One of the plans the Pentagon had presented to Mr Trump as he was considering his options on Iran, before deciding to launch an attack, included killing Mr Khamenei and his son Mojtaba, a Trump adviser said. “What the president chooses no one knows. I don't think he knows,” the adviser added.
Mr Trump chose to launch Operation Epic Fury on February, in co-ordination with Israel. Joint US-Israeli strikes rained on Tehran, killing senior military commanders, including Mr Khamenei.
The attacks also killed Iran’s defence minister, commander-in-chief of the IRGC and the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces. The new defence minister was later killed just two days after taking office.
The IRGC announced what it said was the “most devastating offensive operation in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, as Tehran pledged to retaliate by launching “extensive missile and drone” attacks on Israel and 27 US bases across the region.
