Iranian factions weaponize Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei amid doubts over his role
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Competing political groups in Iran are invoking the name of the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, to legitimize their actions, while experts question whether he is actively governing.
Iranian political factions are increasingly citing the authority of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to attack rivals and bolster their own positions, even as analysts note uncertainty about his actual involvement in governance. Two reports by Iran International detailed conflicting accounts of President Masoud Pezeshkian's interactions with the new supreme leader. One report quoted senior cleric Mohammad-Bagher Kharrazi, a relative by marriage, claiming Khamenei warned that a further resignation by Pezeshkian would be accepted, a claim the president's office dismissed as "baseless and an outright lie" and attributed to Kharrazi's habit of telling "strange stories." A second report, based on unnamed sources, described a brief, obscured meeting in a tinted-window vehicle where Pezeshkian could not see Khamenei and was not allowed to shake his hand, leading the president to question whether the voice he heard was truly the supreme leader. Pezeshkian had previously said he spent two and a half hours in a cordial meeting with Khamenei.
Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, said the contradictory narratives reflect a deeper power struggle within what he called an "Islamist oligarchic mafia system," where the supreme leader traditionally acted as a "godfather" arbitrating among rival clans. Aarabi warned that the prolonged public absence of Mojtaba Khamenei creates a leadership vacuum, prompting factions to use his name as a political tool to legitimize themselves and marginalize opponents. "Mojtaba’s name is the glue that’s holding the system together right now," he said.
Exiled journalist Mehdi Ghadimi described the resignation rumors as a recurring tactic used by reformist administrations to generate public sympathy before being sidelined, noting similar patterns during the tenures of former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani. Ghadimi expressed doubt about the existence of a functional leader named Mojtaba Khamenei, suggesting he may be dead or in a severely deteriorated condition.
Aarabi cautioned that continued reliance on Khamenei’s name without visible evidence of his activity could erode its effectiveness, potentially intensifying internal infighting as doubts about his health or existence grow.