"Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen publicly since Saturday, when the Israeli airstrike targeting the supreme leader's offices killed his 86-year-old father. Also killed were the younger Khamenei's wife, Zahra Haddad Adel, who came from a family long associated with the country's theocracy."
"But now with his father and wife considered by hard-liners as martyrs in the war against America and Israel, Khamenei's stock likely has risen with the aging clerics of the 88-seat Assembly of Experts who will select the country's next supreme leader."
"Whoever becomes the leader will gain control of an Iranian military now at war and a stockpile of highly enriched uranium that could be used to build a nuclear weapon - should he choose to decree it."
Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has emerged as a potential successor following his father's death in an Israeli airstrike. Though secretive and without formal government experience, Mojtaba has long been viewed as a contender for supreme leader. His wife, Zahra Haddad Adel, was also killed in the strike. Currently believed alive but in hiding, Mojtaba's candidacy faces criticism for potentially establishing hereditary rule. However, his father and wife are now viewed as martyrs by hard-liners, likely strengthening his position with the Assembly of Experts, the 88-member body selecting Iran's next supreme leader. The successor will control Iran's military and nuclear uranium stockpile.
Read at Fortune
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