NEW IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER, MOJTABA KHAMENEI WOUNDED IN AIRSTRIKE

March 9, 2026 • Dons Eze • 1 min read

Iran’s new supreme leader has been wounded, state TV in Iran has reported. Mojtaba, 56, the second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was confirmed as his father’s successor on Sunday after being chosen by the regime’s 88member assembly, even though Khamenei had previously opposed the idea of his son taking over.

Mojtaba, a hardline cleric with a reputation among critics for being vengeful, now finds himself under direct threat from Israel, which has vowed to target whoever assumed leadership following the Ayatollah’s death. That danger escalated dramatically after Israeli strikes on the opening day of the conflict killed both Khamenei and Mojtaba’s wife, Zahra HaddadAdel, placing the newly appointed leader in a perilous position.

In a state TV report announcing his rise to Supreme Leader, Mojtaba was described as having been wounded in the conflict, with the anchor referring to him as a janbaz-a term used in Iran for someone injured by the enemy-during what Iranian media call the “Ramadan war,” their name for the current fighting.

Dons Eze

DONS EZE, PhD, Political Philosopher and Journalist of over four decades standing, worked in several newspaper houses across the country, and rose to the positions of Editor and General Manager. A UNESCO Fellow in Journalism, Dr. Dons Eze, a prolific writer and author of many books, attended several courses on Journalism and Communication in both Nigeria and overseas, including a Postgraduate Course on Journalism at Warsaw, Poland; Strategic Communication and Practical Communication Approach at RIPA International, London, the United Kingdom, among others.