“Think of Mojtaba Khamenei as his father on steroids.”
That is how Kasra Aarabi, director of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps research at the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, described in comments to Fox News Digital following reports that the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been selected to lead the Islamic Republic.
“Mojtaba was already operating as a mini supreme leader in the Bayt-e Rahbari â his fathers office and the core nucleus of power in the regime,” Aarabi said.
“His father had created the Bayts extensive apparatus as a hidden power structure to ensure continuity should he be eliminated â and through Mojtabas appointment, this is exactly what we will get,” Aarabi said.
President Donald Trump also reacted to Mojtaba Khameneis rise. In an interview with the New York Post, Trump said he was “not happy with” the younger Khamenei replacing his father as leader of Irans theocratic system but declined to elaborate on how the United States might respond. “Not going to tell you,” Trump said when asked about his plans regarding the new supreme leader. “Not going to tell you. Im not happy with him.”
An Iranian source with knowledge of the leadership transition told Fox News Digital that earlier speculation Mojtaba might pursue reforms now appears unlikely given the circumstances surrounding his appointment.
“Previously there were whispers suggesting that if Mojtaba were to become the leader, he might introduce reforms that would both open up the domestic political space and bring a more interactive approach to foreign policy,” the source said.
“However, now this possibility seems very weak.”
Mojtaba was chosen “amid disputes, controversies, and pressure from the IRGC,” according to the source, meaning he “owes his appointment to their support and therefore cannot act against their wishes.”
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has spent decades building influence inside the power structures surrounding Irans supreme leader.
Born in 1969 in Mashhad, he pursued clerical studies in Tehran, Iran, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought his father to prominence. Over time, however, analysts say his influence developed less through traditional clerical authority and more through .
In 2019, the United States under Executive Order 13867. The U.S. Treasury Department said he had been “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.”
Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Iran Program, said Mojtabas background reflects a broader shift inside the Islamic Republic.
“Despite donning a turban, Mojtaba is the product of the ,” Ben Taleblu told Fox News Digital. “Expect him to work with and through the IRGC to keep his hold on power.”
Aarabi said Mojtaba has spent years consolidating influence behind the scenes.
“His past tells us he enjoys micromanaging every aspect of authority to satisfy his thirst for power,” Aarabi said, describing how Mojtaba allegedly relocated IRGC command centers to his office during protests, engineered election outcomes and installed loyalists across state institutions.
Since 2019, Aarabi added, Mojtaba has also been implementing what he described as his fathers effort to “purify” the regime by promoting ideological loyalists across the political system.
“Mojtaba is a deeply antisemitic, anti-American, and anti-Western ideologue,” Aarabi said. “He has personally been involved in repression in Iran and terror plots abroad.”
Analysts say Mojtabas rise may further strengthen the role of Irans security institutions.
“The rise of the yo
