Ali Khamenei, 86 years old and reportedly in poor health, was k!lled in one of the first missile strikes launched by the US and Israel during their war with Iran.
Senior Iranian officials had already prepared succession plans in the event of his death, though they were unlikely to have anticipated the circumstances.
Iran’s state-run Mehr News Agency reported that a decision on Khamenei’s successor has already been made, but “some obstacles” must be overcome before the name is publicly announced. Hojjatoleslam Jafari, a member of the Assembly of Experts, expressed hope that the decision would satisfy the Iranian public.
He said: “The delay in electing the third leader is bitter and unwanted for everyone, and there is no alternative, so we should not have bad thoughts about our representatives at this difficult time.” Reports from The New York Times previously indicated that the leading candidate to succeed Khamenei is his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei.
According to Christian Emery of University College London, Mojtaba’s possible appointment would likely be controversial. “He is reportedly extremely influential inside Iran but working against him is both his lack of government experience and the political and clerical establishment’s fear that returning to hereditary rule would undermine the Iranian Revolution’s founding principle of no more Shahs,” Emery said.
The BBC previously reported that Ali Khamenei had warned years earlier against hereditary succession and was believed to have ruled out Mojtaba as a potential successor.
However, Mojtaba is believed to have strong links with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, suggesting that the group could gain even greater influence if he were selected. Emery said those ties date back to Mojtaba’s service during the Iran-Iraq War, which remains a central element of the Islamic Republic’s identity.
If Mojtaba were appointed Supreme Leader, Emery said it would likely ensure that the “enormous economic and political power base” developed by the Revolutionary Guards during