Khamanei's son Mojtaba new Supreme Leader? Iran denies Israeli media reports

Iran has rejected Israeli media reports claiming that Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei has been appointed as the country’s new Supreme Leader. Mojtaba Khamanei is the son of former Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In a post on X through the Consulate General in Mumbai's X handle, the country said that there was “no official source” to the claims and dismissed the reports.

It said, “Reports circulating on media regarding potential candidates for leadership selected by Iran’s Assembly of Experts have no official source and are officially denied.”

Iran’s Assembly of Experts, which is a council of 88 clerics, is responsible for choosing the next Supreme Leader of Iran, but it remains unclear how it will do so during the conflict with the United States and Israel.

With the ongoing conflict, Iran has also postponed the funeral ceremony of Ayatollah Khamenei which was supposed to begin today. Khamenei will be buried in Mashhad. He was killed when the US and Israel jointly launched missiles at his home-office compound on Friday, February 28.

Ahmad Khatami, a member of the assembly, on Wednesday said it was “close” to a final decision having settled on a list of options, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

What did Israeli media reports say?

Sources cited by Iran International and The New York Times claimed earlier in the day that Mojtaba was chosen the Supreme Leader's successor, Hours later, Iran denied any such reports.

As the reports of Mojtaba being elected the successor of Khamenei surfaced, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that any leader appointed to replace Ayatollah Khamenei will be a “target for elimination,” reported the Times of Israel.

"Any leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan to destroy Israel, threaten the US and the free world and the countries of the region, and oppress the Iranian people, will be an unequivocal target for elimination. “It does not matter what his name is or where he hides,” Katz said in a statement.

"We will continue to act with full force, together with our American partners, to dismantle the regime's capabilities and create the conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow and replace it," Katz added.

Who is Mojtaba Khamenei?

Ayatollah Khamenei's second-eldest son Mojtaba is a midranking cleric and is widely speculated to be a front-runner to succeed his father. He has close ties with Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

Mojtaba served in the armed forces during the Iran-Iraq war, and is said to wield influence behind the scenes as his father's gatekeeper.