Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei (born September 8, 1969) is an Iranian Shia cleric who has served as the Supreme Leader of Iran since his appointment on March 8, 2026. Prior to his ascension, he was a highly influential, yet largely obscured, political and security figure within the Iranian establishment, acting for decades as a central power broker and key gatekeeper within the administration of his father, the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Born in Mashhad, Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei is the second son of Ali Khamenei and Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh. Growing up in a household deeply embedded in the religious and revolutionary elite, he witnessed his father’s rise from a prominent cleric and politician to the presidency and eventually the Supreme Leadership. During his youth, Mojtaba spent time in northwest Iran, including the cities of Sardasht and Mahabad, before completing his secondary education at Alavi High School in Tehran. In the late 1980s, during the final years of the Iran-Iraq War, he served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an experience that helped him forge lasting alliances with military and intelligence personnel. Following his military service, Mojtaba pursued traditional clerical studies, a prerequisite for elite status in the Iranian theocracy. He spent extensive time at the seminaries in Qom, where he studied under prominent hardline clerics, including Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi and Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi. Throughout his career, he focused on advanced jurisprudence (*dars-e kharej*). For decades, Mojtaba Khamenei operated as one of the most powerful individuals in Iran without holding a formal government title. Working within the Office of the Supreme Leader, he became known as a "hidden hand" in Iranian politics, wielding significant influence over the country's security and intelligence apparatus, including the IRGC and the Basij militia. His behind-the-scenes role was most notably observed during the 2009 Iranian presidential election, where he was widely alleged to have played a central role in organizing the state's crackdown on the "Green Movement" protests. His political influence and close proximity to the centers of power led to him being sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury in 2019 for his role in carrying out tasks on behalf of his father. On February 28, 2026, the assassination of Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli air strike in Tehran created an immediate power vacuum during an intense regional conflict. On March 8, 2026, the Assembly of Experts—the constitutional body responsible for selecting the Supreme Leader—announced the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as the third Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. This selection marked a significant historical shift, as it represented the first instance of hereditary succession in the history of the post-1979 Iranian state. His appointment was met with pledges of allegiance from the country's armed forces and various political institutions, although it also underscored the regime's pivot toward continuity amid extreme domestic and external instability. Mojtaba Khamenei was married to Zahra Haddad-Adel, the daughter of Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, a senior conservative politician and former speaker of the Iranian parliament. Their marriage, which began in 1999, linked two of the most prominent families in the Iranian political establishment. Zahra Haddad-Adel was killed during the same military strike that resulted in the death of Ali Khamenei in February 2026. As Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei is widely expected to maintain the hardline foreign and domestic policies established by his predecessor. His deep ties to the IRGC and his history of managing the regime's coercive institutions suggest a leadership style that emphasizes security, state survival, and regional resistance. Analysts note that his legitimacy faces challenges, particularly from those within the clerical and political spheres who view the hereditary transition as a departure from the revolutionary principles of the Islamic Republic, yet his control over the security apparatus remains the foundation of his authority.