Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, is widely suspected to take his father’s place.
The Islamic republic has long criticized the hereditary rule that marked its former monarchy. But after the younger Khamenei’s wife, Zahra Haddad Adel, was killed alongside his father in a Feb. 28 attack — leading some to view both as martyrs in the war against the U.S. and Israel — the idea may have gained favour with Iran’s Assembly of Experts.
Iranian officials say they have selected a new leader, but have not officially announced who it is.
Khamenei fought in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s with a division of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard before his father became supreme leader in 1989, bringing the family access to billions of dollars and business assets once held by the shah.
In the 2000s, he began to be viewed as a powerful figure behind the scenes in Tehran.
The U.S. Treasury says he’s worked closely with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and in 2019 the U.S. sanctioned him over working to “advance his father’s destabilizing regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives.”
-With files from The Associated Press
