Iran's invisible leader: Is Mojtaba Khamenei really in charge?
Trump, Rubio say supreme leader taking bigger role despite remaining out of public view
Dubai: Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since his appointment on March 8, yet senior US officials now say he is increasingly involved in the country's affairs, raising fresh questions about who really holds power in Tehran.
No photographs have been released, his health condition remains unclear and he has yet to make a public appearance.
But comments this week from US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggest he may be playing a growing role behind the scenes.
Why attention is turning to Mojtaba
The mystery surrounding Mojtaba Khamenei deepened this week after both Trump and Rubio publicly indicated that Iran’s new supreme leader is actively participating in state affairs.
“I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, adding that all communications from Khamenei have so far been delivered through written messages and intermediaries.
Trump went further, telling reporters on Wednesday that Khamenei was “involved, absolutely” in ongoing discussions.
Their remarks are among the strongest public indications yet that Mojtaba Khamenei is exercising authority despite remaining largely invisible.
What evidence is there that he is involved?
Iranian officials have reported meetings with the new supreme leader. President Masoud Pezeshkian and senior military commander General Ali Abdollah have both said they met him in recent weeks.
Neither meeting was accompanied by photographs or video footage.
He has also issued around a dozen written statements since taking office. His latest message, condemning the United States and Israel, was read out on Thursday at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
But unlike his father, who regularly attended such events, Mojtaba did not appear.
Why hasn’t he appeared in public?
One explanation may be security.
Multiple Iranian officials have confirmed that Mojtaba was wounded during US-Israeli strikes earlier in the war, although accounts differ on the severity of his injuries and exactly when they were sustained.
Analysts also believe Tehran may be keeping him out of public view because of fears he could become a target.
His prolonged absence has fuelled speculation about his health and whether he is physically capable of exercising the same authority as his father.
Is he really running Iran?
That remains the biggest unanswered question.
Several analysts argue that power in Tehran has become more fragmented since the death of Ali Khamenei.
Thomas Juneau of the University of Ottawa says Mojtaba lacks his father’s authority and ability to balance competing centres of power within Iran’s political system.
Others point to the growing influence of the Revolutionary Guards, with some analysts suggesting that an informal group of commanders and senior politicians may now wield more day-to-day influence than the supreme leader himself.
Farzan Sabet, an Iran expert at the Geneva Graduate Institute, believes Mojtaba is likely helping oversee the broad direction of policy, including Iran’s negotiating positions with the United States, but is not yet as deeply involved in decision-making as his father was.
Signs of continuity
Despite the uncertainty, Iranian authorities are keen to project stability.
Large billboards across Tehran display images of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Ali Khamenei and Mojtaba Khamenei side by side, underscoring a message of continuity in the Islamic Republic’s leadership.
His written statements have closely echoed his father’s anti-American and anti-Israel rhetoric, suggesting little change in Iran’s core ideological direction.
At a ceremony on Thursday marking the anniversary of Khomeini’s death, an empty chair bearing Ali Khamenei’s portrait was placed prominently at the mausoleum, while Mojtaba’s message was read aloud by a senior cleric.
The bigger question
The central issue is no longer whether Mojtaba Khamenei is alive.
It is whether Iran’s unseen supreme leader is gradually consolidating power — or whether the country’s post-war political system is evolving into one in which authority is shared more heavily with the Revolutionary Guards and other centres of influence.
That question may become clearer as Iran’s negotiations with Washington continue and Mojtaba Khamenei’s role gradually emerges from the shadows.
-- With AFP inputs
