The selection of Mojtaba Khamenei, son of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as Iran’s new supreme leader sends a clear message that “the regime isn’t reformable,” one foreign policy expert says.
The 88 senior Shiite clerics who met to name Ali Khamenei’s successor could have chosen to largely hold to their “national priorities” and also “send something to [U.S. President Donald] Trump,” said Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, but “that’s not what’s happening here.”
Ali Khamenei did not leave a succession plan, but the son is someone who “the hardliners in the system can coalesce around,” Berman told The Daily Signal.
While Mojtaba Khamenei may have been the only clear choice still alive to take the role, his selection contradicts the doctrine of the regime, which opposes dynastic rule.
Mojtaba Khamenei is only the third supreme leader of the Iranian regime, which was established 47 years ago following the Iranian Revolution. The leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran rule the nation under Sharia law and have long been known to fund terrorist proxy groups in the region.
The new leader has close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was established following the Iranian Revolution.
“What we know about him, although he’s kept a low profile, he has been much more hardened than his father was, [and has] very close ties to the IRGC,” Jacob Olidort, director of American security at the America First Policy Institute, told The Daily Signal. He added that the selection indicates the IRGC is playing “an increasingly greater role” in decisions over Iran’s future.
It would be “consistent with Israel’s approach” if Israel now uses its intelligence to target and kill the new Iranian leader, Olidort explained, a sentiment Berman also expressed.
It is unclear whether the selection of the new leader means a long conflict with Iran. Trump has declared the war will continue until Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” which could occur if its military ran out of munitions or simply no longer had the will to fight, Berman said.
For Israel’s part in the conflict, Berman believes the “Israelis are moving fast and they’re breaking things because they understand that at any moment, President [Trump] may see a political alignment in Iran that is sufficient for him to declare victory.”
Trump told CBS News on Monday that “the war is very complete, pretty much,” CBS News’ Weijia Jiang wrote on X.
“They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force,” Trump told Jiang over a phone call, adding that the U.S. is ahead of the estimated four-to-five-week timeline Trump had initially estimated.
Trump did not provide a name, but reportedly told CBS News that he has someone in mind to replace Mojtaba Khamenei as leader of Iran.
