Mojtaba Khamenei had been a bit of a mysterious figure, even within Iran. But now, with his appointment as Supreme Leader after the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during Iran’s continuing war with the United States of America and Israel, it may be time for Iran’s new apex leader to step out of the shadows. It would be interesting to see whether Mojtaba Khamenei makes cynical use of the ideas of reform and moderation to calm domestic tempers — for a while. The office of the Supreme Leader has held Iran in an iron grasp ever since the Iranian revolution. So much so that the Iranian State, its values and functions were no longer distinct entities: they were subsumed by the Supreme Leader by carefully balancing, so to speak, the Church and the State.

Source: The Telegraph March 11, 2026 02:45 UTC