Slain Ayatollah’s son & frontrunner for Supreme Leader is ‘injured in assassination attempt’ during air strike

THE slain Ayatollah’s son and frontrunner to become Iran’s next Supreme Leader has been injured in an Israeli strike, reports say.

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is believed to have been wounded in an assassination attempt in the past week amid Operation Epic Fury.

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Mojtaba Khamenei has reportedly been injured in an Israeli strike

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Israel continues to launch strikes on Tehran

It comes after reports Mojtaba was elected as the leading candidate to succeed his late father as the regime’s next dictator.

Israeli officials reportedly believe Mojtaba survived an assassination attempt earlier this week – but walked away injured.

Separate US-Israeli strikes killed his dad Khamenei, 86, and at least 40 other senior regime officials last week.

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Mojtaba’s wife Zahra Haddad Adel, was also killed in the strikes.

Despite being the frontrunner to become Iran‘s next Ayatollah, he has not been seen since the assassination of Khamenei.

The radical cleric, who was once treated for impotency in London, was selected as the primary candidate for Supreme Leader following two Assembly of Experts meetings in Iran, regime officials told The New York Times.

He is understood to be an anti-Western hardliner – and he reportedly wielded strong influence behind the scenes when his dad was still in power.

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Mojtaba has advocated for developing nuclear bombs and has strong links to Iran’s brutal Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

His personal life has also been exposed, with the consevative cleric reportedly owning luxury pads in the UK worth more than £100million.

His property portfolio includes 11 homes in Bishop’s Avenue – nicknamed Billionaire’s Row – according to Bloomberg.

He is believed to control a sprawling investment empire across Tehran, Dubai and Frankfurt – and has reportedly stashed cash away in Swiss bank accounts.

In January he reportedly moved nearly £250million to Dubai using cryptocurrency.

He is believed to own a private jet, a helicopter to urgent trips, and a fleet of Mercedes cars.

Before his dad’s assassination, he taught at the country’s largest seminary in Qom – having been previously educated by an extreme cleric known as the “Crocodile Ayatollah”.

Mojtaba Khamenei, Son Of Irans Supreme Leader

He has been selected as a primary candidate, reports say

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Israel striking Iran on March 7

Mojtaba, who reportedly has “a bleak human rights record”, has helped suppress domestic protests and also served in the Iran–Iraq War.

He has previously been predicted as next Supreme Leader – with a Middle East Institute report in 2022 saying “there is no doubt that Mojtaba wants to be supreme leader”.

But it outlined the challenges he faces – including the fact that his father had opposed hereditary rule due the system echoing the Iranian monarchy.

The move would likely outrage many traditional senior clerics who will be reminded of the Shah’s reign when faced with a family heir mechanism.

The report said: “The concept of a hereditary supreme leader would also go against Shia Islamic convention, with blood lineage for the mantle being exclusively reserved for the 12 divinely ordained Shia imams.

“Today, if Khamenei were to push ahead with this option, after his death it would likely cause uproar across the Shia hawzas (seminaries) and among certain factions of the Islamic Republic’s political elite.”

On top of this, the late Ayatollah had named three potential successors to him before his death – none of whom were Mojtaba.

The “leading” candidate also has an older brother called Mostafa, who is also a cleric.

Mojtaba’s selection is believed to have come as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards pile pressure on the regime to fight back against the US and Israel.

The guards pushed for Mojtaba’s appointment – arguing that he had the qualifications needed to steer Iran in a time of crisis.

: Mojtaba Khamenei visits Hezbollah's office in Tehran

He is reportedly a hardline cleric