Mojtaba Khamenei: The shadow prince who became Iran’s supreme leader

Iran's Revolutionary Guards started launching attacks against the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the Iraqi Kurdistan shortly after President Pezeshkian said in a televised speech he had instructed them to halt such attacks.

The IRGC strikes followed unusually sharp verbal attacks by hardliners which highlighted the limited influence Pezeshkian exercises within Iran’s power structure despite his membership in the temporary three-member leadership council that is currently exercising powers normally held by the country’s supreme leader in wartime.

Pezeshkian said on Saturday that Iran’s armed forces had sometimes acted “at their own discretion” during the recent conflict. He added that, following a decision by the “temporary leadership council,” military forces had now been instructed not to attack neighboring countries “unless they intend to attack us from that country.”

The first institutional response came from the spokesman of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the body that coordinates operational command of Iran’s armed forces, including both the regular army and the IRGC.

The spokesman declared that any location used to launch attacks against Iran would be considered a legitimate target. “Every point that serves as the origin of aggression against Iran is a legitimate target,” he said, adding that with the continuation of offensive operations, “all military bases and interests” of the US and Israel in the region would remain the “main targets” of IRGC attacks.

Within hours, the IRGC also announced missile strikes on Dubai Airport and Juffair Base in Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters.

However, judiciary chief Gholam‑Hossein Mohseni‑Ejei, who also serves on the three-member leadership council, responded quickly. He said evidence from Iranian armed forces showed that “the geography of some regional countries has openly and covertly been placed at the disposal of the enemy” and used for attacks on Iran.

He added that “intense attacks” on such targets would continue and stressed that “this strategy is currently being implemented and the government and other pillars of the system are united on this matter.”

Factors behind the apology

Saudi Arabia on Saturday warned Iran that continued attacks on the kingdom and ​its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind, Reuters reported citing four sources familiar with the matter.

The message was conveyed before Pezeshkian's televised apology, according to Reuters.

Another factor behind Pezeshkian’s apology may have been reports of a drone attack Thursday in the Nakhchivan autonomous region of Azerbaijan, which maintains extensive military cooperation with Israel.

Iran has denied involvement. However, officials in Baku also said they had also foiled several alleged sabotage plots attributed to the IRGC, including a plot targeting the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.

Following the incident, Azerbaijan ordered the immediate withdrawal of its diplomats from Tehran and Tabriz, closed its border with Iran, and demanded an apology.

In a separate incident earlier this week, Iran’s armed forces denied firing a ballistic missile toward Turkish airspace, which Turkish authorities said was intercepted by NATO air and missile defense systems over the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara had issued “warnings in the clearest terms” to prevent similar incidents from recurring.

According to analyst Abdolreza Davari, who defended Pezeshkian’s stance, escalating tensions with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could be very costly to Iran’s external economy which depends heavily on financial and trade channels through the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE has warned it could move to seize Iranian state-linked assets within its jurisdiction if tensions escalate further, according to regional analysts and officials familiar with the dispute.

Hardline backlash and possible moves to limit Pezeshkian’s authority

Some political figures defended Pezeshkian. Davari said the president was simply conveying a decision by the temporary leadership council to halt attacks on neighboring states. He argued that until a new supreme leader is chosen, council decisions carry the authority of the supreme leader and must be implemented.

Hardline critics, however, reacted harshly to the president’s remarks. Former lawmaker Jalal Rashidi Kouchi wrote on X: “An apology is made when a mistake has occurred, whether intentionally or unintentionally. We made no mistake. Your message showed no sign of authority.”

The conservative website Raja News described Pezeshkian as “an irritant to a nation ready for the final confrontation with arrogance” and called for preventing him from sending what it called “signals of weakness.”

The article also warned that Pezeshkian’s description of military strikes as “at their own discretion” could provide justification for neighboring states or international institutions to challenge what it called Iran’s “legitimate and sovereign defense.”

Hardline member of parliament Hamid Rasaei wrote on X that Pezeshkian’s comments were unacceptable, arguing that countries hosting US bases should be the ones apologizing. “The armed forces know their duty well and, as before, will target with powerful missiles wherever the Iranian nation and homeland are attacked. The firm demand of the Iranian people is exactly this.”

Several lawmakers, including Hamed Yazdian and Mohammad Mannan Raisi, urged the Assembly of Experts to quickly appoint a new supreme leader, arguing that statements like Pezeshkian’s risk placing Iran in a position of weakness.

Tehran representative Kamran Ghazanfari also threatened to pursue a parliamentary motion declaring the president politically incompetent — a process that would require signatures from one-third of lawmakers and a two-thirds vote to remove him.

The situation grew more complicated after US President Donald Trump publicly signaled a desire to influence Iran’s leadership transition and the future structure of the regime.

The pressure mounted further when lawmaker Mohsen Zanganeh said Friday that “senior clerics in the Assembly of Experts have nominated two clerics for Iran’s next leadership, but both have declined the position.”

Amid mounting reports of disagreement and deadlock, the Expediency Discernment Council moved to suspend the Assembly of Experts—the body constitutionally responsible for selecting the supreme leader—and shift authority to a provisional leadership structure.

Under Article 111 of Iran’s constitution, that shift elevated Pezeshkian, as head of the Provisional Leadership Council, to a position granting him many of the powers of the supreme leader, including command of the armed forces.

Critics say he has so far refrained from intervening decisively in major state affairs and has instead focused on secondary issues, including preparations for local elections scheduled for May.

“Today Pezeshkian is simultaneously the president, head of the leadership council, and the commander-in-chief,” former transport minister Abbas Akhundi wrote on X. “He must step into the field and declare: everyone is under my command.”

Akhundi argued the succession debate itself is ill-timed. “Any action that diverts attention from the war … is playing into Israel’s hands,” he added. “Becoming preoccupied with succession at a time of war is a harmful distraction.”

Wartime power centers

The Revolutionary Guards remain central to both the war effort and domestic politics. While engaged in a widening regional confrontation, the IRGC has also been deeply involved in the succession debate.

Reports indicate it has strongly backed Mojtaba Khamenei despite constitutional sensitivities and resistance from parts of the clerical establishment.

The sidelining of the Assembly of Experts underscores institutional divisions. Some clerics argue that naming a successor during wartime risks deepening fractures, while others insist a swift decision is necessary to project unity and control.

The Expediency Discernment Council has played a decisive role by affirming the authority of the provisional leadership structure, signaling that the succession question has reached a level of internal dispute requiring extraordinary intervention.

Security chief Ali Larijani has also reportedly intervened in the deliberations to promote his brother Sadeq Larijani as a candidate for supreme leader.

Sadeq Larijani was once head of judiciary and now heads the Expediency Council, where he can in theory slow the succession process and complicate the IRGC’s push for Mojtaba Khamenei.

For now, uncertainty over succession and authority continues to shape Iran’s wartime politics, with key figures—including Mojtaba Khamenei, senior IRGC leaders and Ali Larijani—remaining largely silent in public.

The original plan, announced shortly after his death was confirmed on March 1, envisioned a three-stage procession through Tehran, Qom and Mashhad before Khamenei’s burial in his hometown.

A day later, after the death of his wife, Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, was announced, officials shifted to a joint burial at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad.

On Wednesday morning, state television reported that Khamenei’s coffin would be placed at Tehran’s Mosalla (Prayer Grounds) for mourners. By midday, the broadcast postponed the ceremony to the evening. Hours later, another update said it would still take place at an unspecified later time.

State television later aired footage of workers preparing a podium where the coffin was to be displayed behind bulletproof glass.

Security and optics

Security concerns appear central to the delays. Iran is organizing a state funeral amid an active regional war, and Israeli officials have said they would target anyone appointed as the next Supreme Leader.

Foreign dignitaries—particularly figures linked to Hezbollah and the Houthis—have reportedly expressed concern about attending, citing the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran during former President Ebrahim Raisi’s funeral.

Many Iranian officials likely share similar concerns. Lower-level Chinese and Russian delegations are expected to attend.

The question of succession adds further uncertainty. Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, said on state television Wednesday that the body had not yet reached a final decision on Khamenei’s successor.

“Allowing everyone to express their views is extremely difficult during wartime,” he added.

Some clerical figures argue that naming a successor while the former leader remains unburied would be inappropriate. Others contend that announcing a new leader during the funeral itself—before a large crowd—would better project unity and legitimacy, despite widespread anti-government protests earlier this year.

The crowd problem

Officials also appear concerned about turnout. State television acknowledged that authorities were attempting to bus supporters in from other cities to produce what it described as “a funeral attended by millions.”

The leadership is keen to replicate the massive crowds that gathered for Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. Official figures at the time claimed 10 million mourners, though foreign journalists estimated between two and four million. Replicating even a fraction of that turnout now—amid war and public discontent—appears uncertain.

Transporting large crowds between Tehran, Qom and Mashhad for a multi-city mourning procession adds further complications.

Khamenei’s supporters, including those backing his son as a potential successor, are seeking a large and symbolic display of loyalty when and if a new leader is announced.

Some officials and analysts say that effort to stage a carefully managed spectacle may help explain why the funeral has been repeatedly delayed over the past two days.

The situation triggered a wave of posts across social media platforms, particularly on X, many of them sarcastic, angry or openly celebratory.

One widely shared comment drew a comparison with the authorities’ treatment of families whose relatives were killed during protests.

More than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces during the January 8-9 crackdown on nationwide protests, making it the deadliest two-day protest massacre in history, according to documents reviewed by Iran International.

“In the past two months a man named Ali Khamenei did not allow families of people killed on his orders to hold funerals,” one user wrote. “Now for five days the body of that same man has been kept in a refrigerator and they cannot even issue permission for his burial. What goes around comes around.”

Another post mocked the uncertainty surrounding funeral arrangements. “The funeral procession for Khamenei will be held online through the Shad platform,” a user wrote, referring sarcastically to the government-linked education app used by Iranian schools when classes move online during crises.

Some comments echoed remarks previously made by a state television host who had mocked the deaths of protesters.

Public anger erupted last month after a presenter on Ofogh TV, a channel run by the state broadcaster IRIB and affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, referred to reports that thousands killed during the January crackdown were transported in refrigerated trailers. The program made a multiple choice question about where to keep the bodies of protesters. The show aired a segment posing a multiple-choice question about where the bodies of protesters should be kept.

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  Mockery of protest victims on state TV sparks fury in Iran

“Which refrigerator do you think they are keeping Khamenei’s body in?” one user wrote, listing options such as “Netanyahu’s refrigerator,” “an ice-cream factory freezer,” and “the freezers of Antarctica.”

Others used darker language. “The stench of Khamenei’s corpse has spread across the Middle East and they still do not dare bury it,” one user wrote.

Another post said: “Six days have passed and the rotten body of Ali Khamenei is still lying on the ground.”

Some users circulated images of a dead rat with captions claiming sarcastically that the first photo of Khamenei’s body had finally been released.

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  Khamenei ‘rat’ taunt spills from social media onto Iran’s campuses

Revenge in digital form

Many posts framed the mockery as a form of symbolic revenge.

“Khamenei left a deep wound in people’s hearts and denied grieving families the right to mourn,” one user wrote. “His agents buried bodies secretly. Now after days his own body is still on the ground.”

Others referenced reports that some families had been asked to pay for the bullets used to kill their relatives in order to receive their bodies.

“I heard Khamenei’s body has started to rot with worms,” one user wrote. “If you don’t have money for bunker-buster bombs, at least bury him.”

Another post revived a Persian saying about burial rites. “They used to say a corpse never stays on the ground,” the user wrote. “Even if someone has no one, eventually the municipality will bury them. But six days have passed and the body of Ali Khamenei is still lying there.”

“Israel said to return the body of Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Republic must pay for the missiles it fired, or his family must admit he was part of a Mossad spy team,” one post read, referring sarcastically to reports that families were sometimes asked to sign papers declaring their children Basij members in order to receive their bodies and permission for burial ceremonies.

Others suggested that authorities might abandon plans for a burial altogether.

“It seems they have given up burying Khamenei,” one user wrote. “Maybe they are waiting for the US Navy to throw the carcass into the sea.”

“Khamenei’s body should be bombed again,” another post said. “I’m still not satisfied.”

Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh died one day after her husband. She spent her final day in a coma at a hospital near their residence on Pasteur Avenue in central Tehran, a compound long guarded by the Revolutionary Guards but now destroyed.

Born into a religious family in Mashhad, she married Khamenei in 1964 in a traditional family-arranged ceremony.

The couple had six children: four sons born before the 1979 Revolution and two daughters born afterward. One daughter, Hoda, was killed in the same attack that targeted Khamenei’s home and office.

A life lived in the shadows

Throughout her life, Mansoureh remained one of the most private figures in Iran’s ruling elite. Her public presence was far more limited than that of Fakhr Iran Saghafi, the wife of Ruhollah Khomeini, or Effat Marashi, the wife of the late Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

So little was publicly known about her that when news of her death spread, Iranian media initially struggled to locate a reliable photograph. Some outlets mistakenly published a picture of Ategheh Rajai, the outspoken wife of another late president, Mohammad-Ali Rajai.

Her public voice survives almost entirely through two interviews: one with Mahjoubah magazine in the early 1990s and another with Jomhouri Eslami in 1983, shortly after Khamenei survived an assassination attempt. Most quotations attributed to her in later years originate from these two sources.

“It was not a romantic thing,” she said of their union. “His grandmother came to our house to propose.”

She portrayed her main role as maintaining a stable home life while her husband pursued political and religious work, stressing that she considered full hijab the appropriate attire outside the home, while dress inside could be more flexible but still follow Islamic principles.

Why she remained invisible

Her absence from public life reflected not only personal preference but also the political culture surrounding Iran’s leadership.

Khamenei largely kept his family out of public view for a mixture of religious, cultural, and security reasons. A deeply traditional cleric, he rarely allowed his wife or daughters to appear publicly, and even his sons were long shielded from public scrutiny.

Although she was never formally described as Iran’s “First Lady,” the symbolic status of the Supreme Leader’s spouse occasionally surfaced in public debate.

When Jamileh Alamolhoda, the wife of the late president Ebrahim Raisi, briefly used the title in a television interview, Iranian media reported that the description was later clarified after criticism from conservative circles that the title belonged to the Supreme Leader’s household.

She will be buried beside her husband at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, according to state media reports.