Mojtaba Khamenei to be Iran's new Supreme Leader: All about his net worth, family, wife Zahra Haddad Adel and kids

Iran's Assembly of Experts has reportedly elected Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, 56, the second son of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's new supreme leader, according to Iran International. As per the report, the decision was allegedly taken under pressure from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Mojtaba, who has never held public office and is not a high-ranking cleric, is nevertheless believed to exercise considerable influence behind the scenes. He served in the Iranian armed forces during the Iran-Iraq War and is known for his close links to the IRGC.

He married Zahra Haddad-Adel, daughter of an Iranian conservative politician and former Chairman of the Parliament, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, in 2004. Zahra Haddad-Adel was reported to have been killed recently when the US and Israel attacked Iran in a joint operation.

The couple reportedly has three children, though few details about his family are available publicly.

Poised to take over the crucial position left vacant following his father's killing, Mojtaba was not Ali Khamenei's choice. It is important to note that Mojtaba's name was not included in the list of potential successors prepared by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last year. Analysts say the elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei indicates Iran’s ruling administration's desire to preserve continuity amid war, even though a father-son succession is not seen positively in Iran's Shiite Muslim clerical establishment.

Before they announced Ali Khamenei's successor, Iran’s Assembly of Experts said that the decision about the new supreme leader would be based on religious criteria and the body's own judgment rather than individual preferences or political factions, Iran International reported. According to Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the body was inclined to select a person similar to Ali Khamenei.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday said that an interim leadership council is running the country following Ali Khamenei's killing. It consists of the Iranian President, Judiciary Chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei and a Guardian Council member, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi.

One of Khamenei's family's surviving members, Mojtaba, lost several members of his family in the US-Israel strikes, including his father, mother, sister, sister-in-law and brother-in-law.

Mojtaba Khamenei's Net Worth

Even though Mojtaba's exact net worth is not known, accounts indicate that he oversees a vast investment empire and is reportedly a multi-millionaire.

The US sanctioned Mojtaba in 2019, but a Bloomberg report alleged that Ali Khamenei's second son still managed to build a global property empire. According to the report, he channelled funds to the tune of billions of dollars into Western markets. His financial assets include a British luxury property worth over $138 million and Swiss bank accounts, the report said.

A senior investigations lead at Transparency International UK, Ben Cowdock, had denounced Mojtaba's investments in the United Kingdom. Criticizing Mojtaba's real estate investments, he had said, “It’s increasingly clear that those close to Iran’s political leaders have invested heavily in the UK." He added, "Our property market should not serve as a safe deposit box for cronies who finance repressive regimes.”