"By a decisive vote, the Assembly of ​Experts appointed Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran," the ​assembly said in a statement.

“One righteous person after another.”

Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, born on September 8, 1969, in Mashhad, Iran, is a Shia cleric and politician who has recently ascended to the position of Supreme Leader of Iran following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a targeted strike.

As the second-eldest son in the Khamenei family, Mojtaba grew up amid Iran's revolutionary turmoil, with his father rising as a key opponent to the shah. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the family relocated to Tehran, where Mojtaba later served in the Iran-Iraq War from 1987 to 1988 as part of the Revolutionary Guard's Habib ibn Mazahir Battalion.

Despite lacking the high clerical rank of ayatollah and rarely appearing in public, Mojtaba has wielded significant behind-the-scenes influence for decades. He has deep ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij paramilitary group, playing a pivotal role in suppressing the 2009 Green Movement protests following the disputed presidential election.

He supported hardline figures like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 and 2009 elections, helping to sideline reformist factions. In 2019, the U.S. sanctioned him for advancing his father's "destabilizing regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives," including close collaboration with the Quds Force in supporting groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Taliban.

Mojtaba's political stances embody a radical, pragmatic conservatism centered on the absolute survival of the Islamic Republic and the principle of Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist). He prioritizes national security, rejecting democratic reforms that could undermine the theocratic system.

His worldview features staunch anti-Zionism and anti-imperialism, with deep hostility toward Israel and the United States, and the collective west, while bolstering Iran's proxy networks across the region.

Analysts describe him as an authoritarian pragmatist who might allow minor social concessions, like easing hijab enforcement, to quell unrest but maintains a "security-first" grip on power. A figure, possibly more radical than his father, who could work on speeding up the path towards nuclear armament, disregarding his father's previous fatwa.

Guinea's authorities issued a late-night decree dissolving 40 political parties, including the country's three main opposition groups: the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), led by exiled former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo; the Rally of the People of Guinea (RPG), associated with ex-President Alpha Condé; and the Union of Republican Forces (UFR).

The decree, issued by the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization under President Mamady Doumbouya (who transitioned from junta leader to elected president in early 2026), cites the parties' "failure to fulfil their obligations" under existing regulations.

The affected parties have been stripped of their legal status and control over assets.

Opposition leaders and critics have condemned the move as a severe crackdown on political pluralism, with warnings that it signals a shift toward one-party rule amid ongoing concerns about democratic backsliding since the 2021 coup.