AP explains Mojtaba Khamenei as a possible new Iran leader

Описание: (4 Mar 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY: PART NO USE BY BBC PERSIAN, VOA PERSIAN, MANOTO TV, IRAN INTERNATIONAL

++The Associated Press is adhering to Iranian law that stipulates all media are banned from providing BBC Persian, VOA Persian, Manoto TV and Iran International any coverage from Iran, and under this law if any media violate this ban the Iranian authorities can immediately shut down that organisation in Tehran.++

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dubai, United Arab Emirates - 4 March 2026
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press: ++PARTIALLY OVERLAID WITH SHOTS 2 TO 7++
"Among candidates for Iran's next Supreme Leader is one who really stands out, and that's Mojtaba Khamenei. He is one of the sons of the slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and he saw both his father and his wife killed in the initial Israeli airstrike on Saturday that sparked this region-wide war that we're seeing now involving Iran, Israel, the Americans and the wider Gulf Arab countries. Now Mojtaba Khamenei is sort of a secretive character, he's not really well known. There are few photographs and videos of him, but he's believed to be very close to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and he was viewed as a gatekeeper, someone who was in charge of his father's office when he ruled as Supreme Leader. Now there's some concern because analysts believe that Mojtaba Khamenei is actually much more hardline than his father and he would take over Iran as it faces this war and as it has a stockpile of highly enriched uranium that could potentially be used to make an atomic weapon. Now, his father always said that Iran did not seek that, but as Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei could set his own fatwa, a religious ruling, potentially allowing for this. Now, whether or not he becomes Supreme Leader remains in question. The panel that would pick him is called the Assembly of Experts. It's a panel that has 88 clerics on it and already the Israelis have bombed a building associated with that panel. Now, Iranian media says that nobody was in the building at the time, but it shows the attention that the Israelis are having on who will be the next leader. We heard from the Israeli defense minister today, saying whoever was picked would be a target for elimination by the Israelis. So it remains unclear who the next leader will be, but Mojtaba Khamenei is one of the top candidates, even as this war goes on and questions remain about Iran's future."

ASSOCIATED PRESS - NO USE BY BBC PERSIAN, VOA PERSIAN, MANOTO TV, IRAN INTERNATIONAL
ARCHIVE: Tehran, Iran - 31 May 2019
2. STILL of Mojtaba Khamenei, son of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (center) attending the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally (AP photo by Vahid Salemi/ID:24141621993787)
3. STILL of Mojtaba Khamenei (AP photo by Vahid Salemi/ID:19151440412859)

ASSOCIATED PRESS - NO USE BY BBC PERSIAN, VOA PERSIAN, MANOTO TV, IRAN INTERNATIONAL
Tehran, Iran - 4 March 2026
++GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED MEDIA TOUR++
4. Various of police base destroyed in airstrike on Tuesday, workers clearing debris
5. Billboard with the picture of Ali Khamenei
6. People walking past damage
7. Various of billboard with picture of Ali Khamenei
STORYLINE:
Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has long been considered a contender to the post of the country's next paramount ruler — even before an Israeli strike killed his father at the start of the war last week and despite the fact he's has never been elected or appointed to a government position.


















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