9.3.2026
China says it opposes any targeting of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, after threats by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister not recognise him.
US and Israeli strikes had killed Mojtaba’s father and several Iranian military commanders, with the more than a week-old conflict dragging, President Trump vowed to remove any leader that does not get his approval.
“China opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs under any pretext, and Iran’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity should be respected,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun tells a press conference.
Mojtaba suffered personal loss in the strikes. He lost his father Ali Khamenei, mother, sister and child,
Mojtaba Khamenei was selected by Iran’s Assembly of Experts, a body of elected senior clerics tasked with choosing the supreme leader.
Born in 1969, he received religious training like his other brothers though he never rose to the rank of Mujtahid, the level of Islamic jurisprudence many regime loyalists consider essential for the role of supreme leader.
For years, Mojtaba kept a low profile, although from the shadows he was a central figure in the vast officialdom of his father’s system. He cultivated close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the economic networks that prop up the system. With agency reports
Mojtaba Khomeini... Iran's new Supreme Leader.