Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in Tehran in a US-Israeli attack, feared his son coming to power, according to US intelligence sources, CBS News reported.
The intelligence agency presented this data to US President Donald Trump and his inner circle, including Vice President J.D. Vance.
According to sources, the supreme leader was concerned about the possibility of Mojtaba Khamenei coming to power, as he was “considered incapable and unfit for the role of supreme leader“.
His father was also aware of his son's personal problems, sources said. In 2004, Khamenei married Zahra Haddad-Adel, the daughter of Gholam-Ali Adel, the speaker of the Iranian parliament.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, succeeded his father after his assassination.
Since 2022, Mojtaba Khamenei has been increasingly mentioned in the media as a likely successor to his father as supreme leader. Ali Khamenei has not commented on these rumors. Around the same time, the Iranian press began to call the supreme leader's son an ayatollah (one of the highest spiritual titles among Shiite Muslims). However, the transfer of power from father to son is not welcomed by the Shiite clergy.
After Ali Khamenei's death, his son began to be mentioned as one of the most likely candidates for the post of supreme leader. Other potential candidates included Sadeq Larijani, son of Ayatollah Hashem Amoli and brother of Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.
On March 8, 2026, the Assembly of Experts selected Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader of Iran.
According to CBS News, Trump stated that he did not know how important the information about the son of the former Supreme Leader of Iran was.
On March 12, the president said in an interview with Fox News that he believed that the new Supreme Leader of Iran was “probably alive“ but “wounded“. "I think he's wounded, but he's probably alive in some form," the president said.
The New York Times, citing three Iranian officials, reported that Mojtaba Khamenei had been wounded, including in his legs, but was alive and in hiding. Two Israeli officials also confirmed this. They said Khamenei's son was wounded on February 28, the same day his father died.
Trump said that the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei was "unacceptable" to him. "They [the Expert Council] are wasting their time. Khamenei's son is a lightweight," he said.