Iran’s Mojtaba Khamenei frames war with US, Israel as ‘jihad,’ analyst says

Mojtaba Khamenei calls US-Israel war ‘jihad,’ fuels Iran succession talk

By Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

Tehran clerics say the supreme leader’s son is branding any future conflict with Washington or Jerusalem as holy war.

Mojtaba Khamenei’s choice of language signals his arrival as a doctrinal hard-liner inside the Revolutionary Guards command structure that his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, controls.

The younger Khamenei, 54, lacks official rank but is increasingly cited by commanders as a theological authority. His endorsement of jihad rhetoric gives Iran’s regional posture a sharper religious edge at a moment when US President Donald Trump has ordered carrier groups to stay within Persian Gulf range.

Analysts see the speech as a campaign trailer for succession discussions that the clerical establishment avoids in public. The elder Khamenei has held office since 1989 and underwent prostate surgery in 2022 without naming a deputy.

Iranian analyst Meir Javedanfar, who monitors leadership signaling, wrote on Monday that Mojtaba’s comments before Basij militia officers “frame any shooting war as religious duty rather than national defense, binding future leaders to fight even if costs spike.”

The Basij, a volunteer paramilitary under the Guards, issued a statement after the meeting praising “the illuminating jihad jurisprudence of Mojtaba Khamenei.”

State media did not broadcast the remarks, but attendees leaked video to BBC Persian showing him cite Quranic verses linking self-defense to divine reward. “Those who resist America and the Zionists stand on the edge of paradise,” he told the audience of mid-level commanders, according to a recording reviewed by GlobalBeat.

Revolutionary Guards spokesman Ramazan Sharif declined repeated requests for comment on whether Mojtaba Khamenei’s views reflect official policy.

Iran already supplies drones to Russia and funds proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The jihad label removes any diplomatic off-ramps if those groups kill Americans or Israelis, analysts warn.

“He is weaponizing theology,” said Sanam Vakil of London think-tank Chatham House. “Once a war is declared jihad, compromise becomes apostasy.”

Trump told reporters on Air Force One late Monday he had seen intelligence on Iran’s internal debates but gave no details. “We are watching,” he said. “Our red lines haven’t moved.”

White House national security adviser Mike Waltz posted on X that “any Iranian leader who confuses martyrdom with statecraft will discover the price is paid by their own people.”

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said in a radio interview the remarks proved Tehran’s ruling elite “remain hostage to messianic ideology disguised as foreign policy.” Katz vowed Israel would “exact a heavy price” if attacked under the banner of jihad.

The episode lands amid stalled EU-Iran talks on curbing uranium enrichment and Trump-era sanctions that have slashed Iranian oil exports to 600,000 barrels per day, down from 2.5 million in 2018.

Mojtaba Khamenei has no constitutional role yet commands loyalty from Guards veterans who studied under him at the Imam Khomeini Institute, a conservative clerical school he co-founded in 1995. His security ties deepened after 2009 post-election unrest when he reportedly helped coordinate street suppression from a headquarters in southern Tehran.

Background

Supreme leaders in Iran are chosen by the 88-member Assembly of Experts, a clerical body elected every 8 years. The last vote in March 2024 delivered a hard-line majority expected to back a like-minded successor. Candidates must demonstrate mastery of Islamic law and loyalty to the 1979 revolution’s principles of anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism. No woman has ever been allowed to stand.

Mojtaba Khamenei has never confirmed presidential ambitions but his influence has grown discreetly since the 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani deprived the Guards of their most popular commander. Western diplomats in Tehran track his appearances at shrines and military academies as evidence that the court of succession is already under way.

What’s Next

Lawmakers warned the energy ministry on Tuesday to brace for possible Israeli sabotage of oil terminals after Netanyahu reviewed contingency plans last week. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf set a Wednesday deadline for ministry officials to submit upgraded cyber-defenses, a sign Tehran expects rapid escalation if negotiations stay frozen.