With Ebrahim Raisi dead & 85-year-old Supreme Leader’s health failing, who will be Iran’s next Khamenei?

With Iran mourning the death of Ebrahim Raisi, the spotlight is now of 85-year-old supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. With Raisi, who was thought as a natural successor to the septuagenarian cleric, no more, the most powerful position in Iran is again up for grabs.

The Supreme Leader of Iran holds ultimate power in the nation. He is the head of state and the highest political and religious authority who acts as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He is the one who decides the direction of foreign policy.

Iran’s constitution dictates that the Supreme Leader be appointed by the Assembly of Experts comprising 88 members. The assembly supervises and can also sack the Supreme Leader but only in theory.

The final decision in all matters of state rests with the Supreme Leader’s office and only two men have held the position since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

With Khamenei health declining, he has not endorsed anyone, and with Raisi no more, the path has been cleared for Mojtaba Khamanei as there is no other candidate so far.

Who is Mojtaba Khamenei?

Born on September 8, 1969, Sayyid Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei is the second son of the present Supreme Leader of Iran.The 54-year-old has served in the war of Iran and Iraq from 1987 to 1988. In 1999, he continued his studies in Qom to become a cleric.Presently, Mojtaba teaches theology in the Qom seminary.

Although Mojtaba does not have any active public profile, he has played quite active roles in the Supreme Leader’s office.

Mojtaba is believed to have played a significant role in the presidential elections of 2005 and 2009 as he supported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hardline populist, in unexpectedly beating the leading candidates at the time.

Is he eligible for the role?

It was 2009, when people started talking about Mojtaba being the next Ayatollah because of his conservative hardline ideologies like his father.

But many Iran experts dismiss the idea of the 55-year-old replacing his father as it could be dangerous for the system which discourages rule by heredity.