US-sanctioned Mojtaba Khamenei named Iran’s next supreme leader after father’s death: reports

Iran’s Assembly of Experts has elected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader, according to Iranian state television.

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is the second-eldest son of Ali Khamenei and was born in Mashhad in 1969.

His early childhood coincided with his father’s rise as a revolutionary figurehead opposing the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Ali Khamenei moved from a dissident cleric to a senior government official, holding key posts in the regime including deputy defense minister.

The family moved from Mashhad to Tehran, where Mojtaba attended Alavi High School, which is a school that is known for educating members of Iran’s political and religious elite.

There, he received a general and religious education and graduated in 1987. In 1989, after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Ali Khamenei was appointed supreme leader.

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That same year, Mojtaba began his formal clerical studies in Tehran. He studied under his father as well as Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, who later served as Iran’s chief justice.

Over the years, Mojtaba was seen constantly with his father and was also regarded as an influential figure behind the scenes.

In an Axios interview last week, when asked about reports suggesting Mojtaba Khamenei was the new supreme leader, President Donald Trump said, “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone who will bring harmony and peace to Iran.” Trump also said “They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela.”

In 2019, the U.S. sanctioned Mojtaba Khamenei under Executive Order 13867. The U.S. Treasury Department stated that he had been “representing the supreme leader in an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position aside from work in the office of his father.” 

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The Treasury also said that the supreme leader had delegated part of his leadership responsibilities to Mojtaba. 

It said he worked closely with commanders of the IRGC’s Quds Force and the Basij Resistance Force, positioning him as a key player in both domestic and international security affairs.

Mojtaba is married to the daughter of former Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel.

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Among Ali Khamenei’s sons, he is considered the most powerful and politically influential, according to reports.

Waltz shuts down NBC anchor, arguing Trump is ending a war Iran started with the US in 1979

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz argued to Kristen Welker on Sunday that President Donald Trump has not started a war with Iran, but that he is merely finishing it.

Waltz was asked during NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether the US is indeed at war with Iran, suggesting the conflict actually began in 1979 under then-President Jimmy Carter.

Waltz had formerly been a national security advisor to the Trump administration, but was removed from the role on May 1, 2025, after reportedly coordinating with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu behind the president’s back on possible military options for Iran while Trump was still pursuing peaceful negotiation, followed by the SignalGate controversy.

Welker shared clips of Trump referring to his current military actions in Iran as a “war” and reiterated her question, noting, “As you know, words matter. Does that front administration, do you, describe this as a war against Iran?”

“Well, I describe it as Iran has been at war with us, as I just said,” Waltz replied.

He continued, arguing Trump is not starting a war, but “ending it.”

“President Trump is ending it,” he replied. “I will leave it to the lawyers and those who deal with Congress in terms of the War Powers act, which every administration has viewed as unconstitutional. That said, Secretary Rubio has been there day after day and week after week in the recent months, to appropriately brief congressional leaders.”

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He went on to pivot the conversation, saying, “I’ll tell you, you know, who does believe that they are being attacked. It is the soldiers that have been buried for many, many years as a result of Iranian attacks and the proxy attacks, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and others in Beirut in 1983 and Iraq, through those years, over 600 American soldiers, so, I mean, we need to take a step back and look at how many billions, how much time, how much treasure that administration after administration has spent dealing with this.”

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“President Trump put diplomacy first, both last year and this year. It was clear the Iranians were not negotiating in good faith, had no intention of backing away from its nuclear intentions,” he claimed. “We are trying to protect it with a massive phalanx and shield of ballistic missiles that they were quadrupling their production of on a month-by-month basis, and finally President Trump said enough is enough.”

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Before-and-after satellite imagery offers a rare look at damage inside Iran

Fresh satellite images give a rare aerial view of the damage across Iran after U.S.-Israeli strikes and what Tehran’s retaliation left behind across the region.

Planet Labs satellite imagery captured burning ships and damaged facilities at the Konarak base in southern Iran, as well as significant destruction at Iran’s naval headquarters in Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf, reflecting the scale of the strikes on military infrastructure.

Imagery from Vantor shows damage to facilities and vessels located in Iran’s Bushehr port in the Persian Gulf.

In addition to naval assets, satellite photos show a bunker at Bushehr air base hit by a strike, leaving a large crater and destroying several nearby small buildings.

More strikes targeted the Choqa Balk drone facility in western Iran.

Radar systems at the Zahedan air base in eastern Iran — near the country’s borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan — were also struck.

The two facilities are about 800 to 900 miles apart, underscoring the broad reach of the coordinated strikes.

Satellite imagery also reveals damage to aircraft on the tarmac at Shiraz air base, including scorch marks and debris around several parking areas.

Satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows thick smoke plumes rising above Tehran, signaling explosions and fires inside the Iranian capital.

The smoke underscores how the conflict has moved beyond isolated military sites and into the heart of Iran’s political center.

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Iran has since responded with missile and drone strikes of its own, expanding the conflict across the region. 

Satellite images reveal damage to the port city of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Sharjah is the third most populous after Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

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The Jebel Ali Port, the region’s largest maritime hub, was also targeted, underscoring how the retaliation extended beyond military sites to key infrastructure.

The new satellite imagery comes on the heels of U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several top members of the regime, triggering a succession crisis.

President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that Iran’s new leader is “not going to last long” without U.S. approval as Operation Epic Fury marches into a third week.