Mojtaba Khamenei elected Iran’s new supreme leader — Asharq Al-Awsat
In Iran, the Assembly of Experts elected Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s third supreme leader on March 8, 2026, Asharq Al-Awsat reports. The publication claims that his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed on February 28 as a result of a US and Israeli strike. Before the vote, members of the Assembly of Experts arrived at the venue accompanied by representatives of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Succession without full control
According to Iraqi researcher Ali al-Madan, Mojtaba Khamenei did not inherit all the personal and political resources that his father had concentrated over decades in power. The younger Khamenei did not hold public political positions comparable to those Ali Khamenei held before being appointed supreme leader, and his authority in religious circles is not of the same scale.
The publication’s sources in Iraq and Lebanon said that Mojtaba Khamenei had spent years building ties with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, religious seminaries, the bazaar, the army, Basij forces, and the judiciary. At the same time, a religious figure from Najaf believes that it is now the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that has predominant influence over the new supreme leader, rather than the other way around.
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More decision-making centers
Ali Khamenei managed a complex system of political, security, financial, and religious networks for more than three decades. According to al-Madan, after his death, decision-making in the country increasingly depends on interaction between the supreme leader’s office, the Supreme National Security Council, military and security leaders, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and other state institutions.
During the latest war, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described Tehran’s approach as “decentralized defense.” The publication links this approach to a shift from protecting the top leadership to ensuring the survival of several structures that are more difficult to control or track.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also expressed concern about the prospect of an “Iran of cells” and stated that no group would be allowed to steer the country in its own direction. Asharq Al-Awsat notes that Iran is undergoing a redistribution of roles between the institution of the supreme leader and centers of power.
