June 23 (Reuters) – Mojtaba Khamenei is without doubt one of the most influential figures in Iran’s workplace services led by his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, amongst these seen because the candidate to take over because the chief of the Islamic Republican Party.
Mojtaba, a mid-term clergyman who studied underneath non secular conservatives at QOM seminaries, is a hardlinder since 1989 with shut ties with revolutionary safety guards who’ve been mandated to guard the Islamic Republic led by Khamenei.
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According to Iranian watchers, Mojtaba, 55, who has a administrative rank within the 50-year-old Hojathorzralam, has by no means held a proper place within the authorities of the Islamic Republic and has by no means used his affect behind the scenes as his father’s gatekeeper.
His position has lengthy been some extent of Iran’s controversy, with critics rejecting hints of the dynasty politics of the nation that overthrew a US-backed monarchy in 1979.
The US Treasury Department has said that, besides in 2019, sanctioning Mojutaba and dealing in his father’s workplace, he mentioned he “has by no means been elected or appointed to a authorities place, however has represented the Supreme Leader in his official capability.
According to the web site, Khamenei mentioned he delegated a few of his tasks to Mojutaba. Mojtaba mentioned he labored intently with the QUDS Force, a legion of the Islamic Revolutionary Security Force, and the commander of Basij, a non secular militia affiliated with the safety guard.
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Over the previous 20 years, Mojtaba has developed shut ties with safety guards and added leverage to Iran’s political and safety gear, sources advised Reuters.
Mojtaba has been the goal of protesters’ rage at his first demonstration since 2009, notably throughout a number of unrestrained months that worn out Iran the dying of a younger girl in police custody in 2022 after being arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict costume code.
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He appeared at Loyalist rallies, however was hardly ever spoken in public. Last 12 months, the video was broadly shared and he introduced the suspension of Islamic legislation lessons he taught in QOM, selling hypothesis as to why.
He devours robust similarities along with his father, carrying a black turban of sayeyed, indicating that his household follows the lineage to the Prophet Mohammad.
Critics say Mojtaba lacks the executive {qualifications} to change into the supreme chief – Hojjatoleslam is under the rank of Ayatollah, a place held by his father and Ruhollah Khomeini, who based the Islamic Republic.
But he stays within the body. In specific, one other main candidate for this position, former President Ebrahim Raisi, died in a helicopter crash in 2024.
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Written in 2007 and printed by WikiLeaks, the US Diplomatic Cable cited three Iranian sources describing Mojitaba as a path to achieve Khamenei.
He supported his involvement with the West and opposed Iran’s reform camps embodied by figures akin to former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Roohani.
Mojutaba was broadly believed to have been behind the sudden rise of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad within the 2005 presidential election. Mehdi Karroubi, a reformist cleric who ran within the 2005 election, wrote to Khamenei on the time, objecting to his declare that Mojtaba was the position of Ahmadinejad.
Khamenei refused to file costs.
Mojtaba additionally supported Ahmadinejad in 2009, working once more to win a second time period in battle elections, leading to anti-government protests that had been closely oppressed by Basij and different safety forces.
His spouse is the daughter of a outstanding hardliner who’s former Congress president Gholamali Haddadel.
Mojtaba was born in Mashhad metropolis in 1969 and grew up as a younger man who served within the Iran and Iraq wars as he helped his father lead opposition to the Shah.
(Written by Tom Perry, Edited by Alex Richardson)
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