US intelligence has shared with President Donald Trump and a small circle around him that Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, harbored deep concerns about his son succeeding him, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.
The assessment showed that Ali Khamenei had misgivings about his son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, ever assuming power, because the younger Khamenei was perceived as not particularly brilliant and was considered unfit to lead, according to the sources.
The intelligence also indicated that the father was aware his son had been experiencing problems in his personal life, according to sources in the administration, the intelligence community, and people close to the president. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was elected Iran's supreme leader last weekend by the country's Assembly of Experts after serving for years as his father's close aide. About eight days earlier, Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli missile strike at the opening of the US-Israel war with Iran under Operation Roaring Lion.
Mojtaba Khamenei, who reportedly sustained injuries in the strike, had remained within his father's inner circle. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other senior officials were briefed on the intelligence regarding the younger Khamenei. In private conversations, Trump told people close to him that he was not sure the intelligence passed to him about Mojtaba Khamenei was significant. He believed Iran was effectively leaderless at that point, with the younger Khamenei possibly dead.
The White House believed that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was in effective control of the country's affairs – a significant shift from the theocratic dictatorship that had governed Iran since the 1979 revolution. Spokespeople for the CIA, the White House, and the vice president declined to comment. On Friday, Trump publicly hinted at the late Ali Khamenei's lack of confidence in his son.
