Mojtaba Khamenei Seen as Front-Runner to Be Iran’s Next Supreme Leader

Iranians to Bid Farewell to Khamenei Amid Israel’s Threat Against Successor

TEHRAN — Mojtaba Khamenei, the powerful son of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has emerged as a top contender for the country’s future leadership after surviving the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that killed his father. The development comes as grieving Iranians gather in Tehran for a ceremony to bid farewell to the late Ayatollah.

As per Iran’s constitution, the candidate must be a senior jurist with deep knowledge of jurisprudence in Shia Islam, as well as qualities such as political judgement, courage, and administrative capability. A simple majority is sufficient to appoint the new supreme leader. Mojtaba Khamenei, is among the top contenders to succeed his father.

Hojjatoleslam Mahmoudi, head of Iran’s ⁠Islamic Propagation Council, said the farewell ceremony would start at 10pm (18:30 GMT) on Wednesday at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall and continue for three days.

Khamenei was killed on Saturday, aged 86. He had been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, succeeding Khomeini, the founder of the post-shah Iran, who steered the country’s 1979 revolution.

The supreme leader holds ultimate authority over all branches of government, the military and the judiciary, while also acting as the country’s spiritual leader.

According to reports, Mojtaba is seen by the establishment as a possible successor to his father. A mid-ranking cleric with close ties to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, hardliner Mojtaba is one of the most influential figures in the Iranian establishment. He has for years been seen as one of the top candidates to succeed his father.

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened on Wednesday to assassinate any Iranian leader picked to succeed Khamenei.

“Any leader selected by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan for Israel’s destruction, threatening the United States, the free world and countries in the region, and suppressing the Iranian people, will be a certain target for assassination, no matter his name or where he hides,” Katz said in a post on X.

“The ⁠prayer hall will be ⁠receiving visitors and the dear people can attend and take part in the farewell ceremony and mark ⁠a strong presence once again,” Mahmoudi said in comments ⁠carried by Iranian media.

Funeral arrangements are ongoing and are expected to draw huge crowds, and, with them, the potential threat of US-Israeli attacks on a gathering of mass mourning.  Some 10 million people attended Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s funeral in 1989.