♦ Mojtaba Khamenei was elected as Iran's new supreme leader on 9 March 2026. He is the son of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes. Mojtaba, a cleric with influence inside Iran’s security forces and vast business networks under his father, had been viewed as a frontrunner in the lead-up to Sunday’s vote by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics tasked with choosing Ali Khamenei’s successor.

♦ The position gives Mojtaba the final say in all matters of state in the Islamic Republic.

♦ Born on 8 September 1969 in the north-eastern city of Mashhad, Mojtaba is the second of Ali Khamenei's six children. At 17, Mojtaba served in the military for several short periods during the Iran-Iraq War.