Mojtaba Khamenei, a mid-ranking cleric, is succeeding his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Iran's next supreme leader. This comes after Ali Khamenei, 86, was killed in the US-Israel strikes, triggering a new war in the Middle East.
"By a decisive vote, the Assembly of Experts appointed Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran," read a statement issued late last night by a body of 88 clerics charged with choosing the new leader.
When US Sanctioned Mojtaba Khamenei
Mojtaba Khamenei was in 2019 sanctioned by the US Treasury Department.
At the time, the US said that Mojtaba Khamenei had been designated for "representing the Supreme Leader in an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position aside from work in the office of his father."
The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also took action against the Armed Forces General Staff of Iran and nine individuals. These people were appointees of or acted for or on behalf of Ali Khamenei.
"These individuals are linked to a wide range of malign behaviours by the regime, including bombings of the US Marine Barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in 1994, as well as torture, extrajudicial killings, and repression of civilians," Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said.
The action was taken pursuant to Trump's executive order signed on June 24, 2019.
The US Treasury Department said Ali Khamenei delegated a part of his leadership responsibilities to his second son. It claimed that Mojataba Khamenei worked closely with the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Basij Resistance Force (Basij) to "advance his father's destabilising regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives."
Who Is Mojtaba khamenei?
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is a low-profile cleric and spent most of his career outside public office. However, he stayed close to power and worked within the Office of the Supreme Leader.
He was often recognised as a "gatekeeper" to his father and "powerbroker" rather than a public political figure with a formal portfolio.
He was born in 1969 in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad and is the second-eldest son of Ali Khamenei, who had six children.
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