Trump Says Mojtaba Khamenei Is Alive. Either Way, His Ghost Rules Iran
Trump says Iran's missing ayatollah survived. The real mystery is whether the IRGC has turned him into its wartime puppet.
It has been almost six months since the United States killed Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a series of attacks that triggered Operation Epic Fury in February. Since then, Iran has tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, announced another punitive economic operation, and other Middle Eastern countries have formed a NATO-style pact to safeguard themselves.
Nonetheless, one detail remains unchanged: Iran's new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has yet to be located. According to former President Donald Trump, however, he might not be dead. Trump told Glenn Beck that he believes Khamenei to be "very seriously wounded" and if he were to die, they would be presenting a convincing act. Regardless of whether Mojtaba Khamenei is alive or not, Iran can rule through him, even if it's just his ghost.
Khamenei may carry the same family name, but he pales in comparison to the political mastermind his father became. Ali Khamenei was an ardent revolutionary and close ally of Iran's first Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini since the inception of the Islamic Republic in 1979. He spent decades building Tehran's power, creating the IRGC and security services, and forging essential connections with Iran's various factions.
His son, however, lacks the political experience and control over Iran's power brokers. Even if he is alive, he is largely out of his depth and unable to maintain control over Iran's influential IRGC and security services, as well as leading a nation at war with the world's most powerful military for control of a critical global chokepoint.
Iran's diplomacy and wartime decisions have increasingly come under the control of a small group of powerful figures, including parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Dr. Mohsen Rezaei, and General Ahmad Vahidi. Meanwhile, Mojtaba remains a shadowy figure, issuing only brief statements through Iran's news services and social media.
His disappearance suits Tehran's new power brokers as they use statements attributed to him to shape the narrative as they see fit. The shift in political power from clerics to the Revolutionary Guards, who the elder Khamenei personally groomed, is evident. Mojtaba, chosen as a symbol of continuity, holds no political weight or influence over policy.
Still, he may serve as a spiritual leader, providing legitimacy to Tehran's policies and rallying the predominantly Shia Muslim population during difficult times.
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