The son of Iran's slain Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who is the favorite to succeed his authoritarian father, was reportedly treated for severe impotence that was serious enough to require multiple hospital stays, according to diplomatic leaks.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, reportedly traveled to London on multiple occasions for medical treatment after he and his wife had difficulty conceiving a child. U.S. diplomatic cables that were later released by WikiLeaks in the late 2000s suggested that he received care at both the Wellington and Cromwell hospitals during those visits. The regime hardliner was reportedly dealing with such serious issues that he checked into the clinics at least on four separate occasions.
Dark Secrets Leaked
One of those visits lasted nearly two months before he was eventually able to get his wife pregnant. "Mojtaba was expected by his family to produce children quickly, but needed a fourth visit to the UK for medical treatment; after a stay of two months, his wife became pregnant," the diplomatic cable read.
That situation reportedly followed a period when Mojtaba entered into two "temporary marriages" — a practice permitted under Islamic law that allows men and women to engage in non-committal sex while remaining within religious guidelines — which he allegedly did to gain sexual experience.
"His marriage, to the daughter of former Majles Speaker Hadad Adel, followed two 'temporary marriages' and occurred relatively late in life, reportedly due to an impotency problem treated and eventually resolved during three extended visits to the UK," the cable continued. However, it remains unclear how many children he ended up having.
Both his wife and son were reportedly among the 49 people killed along with his 86-year-old father during an Israeli strike in Tehran on Saturday.
Mojtaba is now believed to be in line to assume control of the country. Several reports suggest that Iran's Assembly of Experts — the 88-member body responsible for deciding leadership succession — has been facing pressure from hardliners within the regime to appoint him to the nation's top position.
Always in Focus
If he takes power, he would carry not only the legacy of his family but also the personal grief from the recent attack, along with a reputation for strong conservative views and long-standing accusations that he quietly worked behind the scenes to strengthen his father's rule.
However, if Mojtaba ultimately rises to lead Iran, he could face the same dangers that confronted his father. Israel said on Wednesday that the next leader of Iran's terror apparatus would become an "unequivocal target for elimination."
Mojtaba was born in 1969 and was just 10 years old when the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew Iran's monarchy. After completing high school, he joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in 1987.
He reportedly served for about a year during Iran's war with Iraq before moving into religious studies. Later, he studied and taught at an Islamic institution that trains members of Iran's clerical elite, experiences that helped firmly connect him with the country's religious and security power structures.
It was around this period that his father rose to the position of supreme leader, and Mojtaba reportedly began overseeing the family's expanding wealth and business dealings.
He also married Zahra Haddad Adel, the daughter of a popular conservative Iranian politician. The marriage further strengthened Mojtaba's ties within the country's ruling elite, connections he later used while operating behind the scenes in government to support and advance his father's authority.
