Who was Zahra Haddad-Adel, killed in US-Israel joint strike on Iran? All about Mojtaba Khamenei's wife, family, and kids
Mojtaba Khamenei has been named Iran's new supreme leader following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Assembly of Leadership Experts confirmed his appointment.
The second son of the late Iranian supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been named as his successor, Iranian state TV reported on Sunday. US‑Israeli strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei almost nine days ago. The 56-year-old is a mid-ranking cleric who spent decades cultivating influence in Iran's security apparatus.
An 88-member clerical body selected the new supreme leader of the country. In a statement, it said Mojtaba Khamenei “is appointed and introduced as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the decisive vote of the respected representatives of the Assembly of Experts." Despite “the brutal aggression of the criminal America and the evil Zionist regime,” the Assembly of Leadership Experts said that it "did not hesitate for a minute" in choosing a new leader.
In a post on X, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran said, “Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei was appointed and introduced as the third #Leader of the Islamic Republic of #Iran following a decisive vote by the Assembly of Experts.”
Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) pledged allegiance to the country's third supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. In a statement, it said, “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps... is ready for complete obedience and self-sacrifice in carrying out the divine commands of the Guardian Jurist of the time, His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei.”
All about Mojtaba Khamenei’s family
Mojtaba Khamenei married Zahra Haddad-Adel, daughter of an Iranian conservative politician and former Parliament Speaker Gholam‑Ali Haddad‑Adel, in 1999. According to EuroNews, the marriage was a strategic alliance “between the office of the supreme leader and a conservative technocratic-cultural faction within the political establishment.” Zahra Haddad-Adel was one of four children of Gholam‑Ali Haddad‑Adel with Tayyebeh Mahrouzadeh, with three daughters and one son.
A member of the Islamic Republic Party, Gholam‑Ali Haddad‑Adel served in multiple governmental posts, including as minister of culture and Islamic guidance (1979) and deputy education minister (1982–1993).
Gholam‑Ali Haddad‑Adel emerged as a leading figure in Iran’s conservative movement during this period. He served as the advisor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Currently, he is the executive director of the Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation. He even played a significant role in the establishment of the national Scientific Olympiads in Iran.
Gholam‑Ali Haddad‑Adel's daughter Zahra was killed in the same joint US‑Israel airstrike that claimed the life of her father-in-law and mother-in-law, among other family members, according to France 24.
Mojtaba Khamenei and Zahra Haddad-Adel reportedly have three children, but few details about their family are publicly known.