{"id":347171,"date":"2026-08-08T20:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=347171"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:04:10","slug":"the-phantom-leadership-war-peace-and-the-crisis-of-mojtaba-khamenei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-a-world\/the-phantom-leadership-war-peace-and-the-crisis-of-mojtaba-khamenei\/","title":{"rendered":"The Phantom Leadership: War, Peace, and the Crisis of Mojtaba Khamenei"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A regime-aligned mourner holds a portrait of Mojtaba Khamenei during a state-staged gathering in Iran<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-minute read<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The shadow of the late Ali Khamenei still looms heavily over Tehran, but it is the invisible, ghostly presence of his son that now paralyzes the Iranian state. Elevated to the ultimate seat of power in the chaotic aftermath of his father\u2019s assassination, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei<\/a> is a man defined\u2014and increasingly trapped\u2014by the war that crowned him.<\/p>\n

For a regime that has spent nearly half a century justifying its existence on the overthrow of a hereditary monarchy, the installation of a son to succeed his father shatters its most foundational ideological myth. Mojtaba was not thrust into power by consensus, but by the apocalyptic emergency of a devastating external conflict. Now, as the war grinds on and the country buckles under the weight of historic droughts, blackouts, and military strikes, the fierce internal debate over whether to continue fighting or sue for peace has become a proxy battle for Mojtaba\u2019s political survival.<\/p>\n

The outlet attached to Khamenei’s own office declared in editorial No. 371<\/a> that “the logic and nature of the war not ending must be considered as a key principle in all affairs of the country,” with every domain\u2014economic, media, executive, social, and political\u2014evaluated under “this grand idea, namely the continuation of the war”. Six weeks later, editorial No. 410<\/a> promised the Strait of Hormuz “will never return to the situation before the 40-day war”. Hossein Shariatmadari, the leader’s own appointee at Kayhan<\/em>, demanded<\/a> to know “why, and with what logical justification, are we supposed to lose this lever?” He dismissed the emerging arrangement with Oman as “worthless,” insisting officials “must not retreat from any bottleneck.”<\/p>\n

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Power Dynamics in Iran and #MojtabaKhamenei<\/a>\u2019s Inner Circlehttps:\/\/t.co\/eTfcnFH14Z<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 3, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n