Mojtaba Khamenei

Sayyid Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei (; born 8 September 1969) is an Iranian Shia cleric and son of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran. He served in the Iran–Iraq War from 1987 to 1988. He also reportedly took control of the Basij militia that was used to suppress the protests over the 2009 election. European sources consider him as one of the possible candidates to succeed his father Ali Khamenei, who has ruled Iran for over three decades. Early life and education Mojtaba was born in Mashhad in 1969 and is the second son of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme leader of Iran. After graduating from high school, he studied theology. His early teachers included his own father and Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi. In 1999, he continued his studies in Qom to become a cleric. Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani and Mohammad Bagher Kharazi were his teachers there. Activities and influence Mojtaba teaches theology in the Qom seminary. He was affiliated with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and supported Ahmadinejad in the 2005 and 2009 presidential elections.