Iranian Opposition Figure Claims Mojtaba Khamenei Is Already Dead

An Iranian opposition activist who runs a popular X account under the name “Siaxares” claims that Mojtaba Khamenei, widely presented as Iran’s current Supreme Leader, was actually killed early in the war in Israeli strikes, together with his father, Ali Khamenei. In his view, the man being shown to the public is a fabricated figure, and the regime is using the Khamenei name only to project continuity.

According to Siaxares, Ali Khamenei and his son were killed in Israeli attacks on February 28, but the regime waited more than 20 hours before announcing Ali Khamenei’s death on state television. He says that after the killings, a temporary “leadership council” was formed, but it collapsed within eight days because of internal power struggles, especially between hardliners in the Revolutionary Guards and figures such as President Masoud Pezeshkian, whom they saw as too soft.

He says the leadership then decided to drop the council and present Mojtaba as Supreme Leader in order to hide weakness and maintain the appearance of stability. Siaxares argues that since Mojtaba was introduced on March 8 as the new leader, there has been no reliable video, audio, or public appearance proving he is alive. He also claims Mojtaba was in the same compound as his father during repeated strikes that included bunker-busting bombs, and that Mojtaba’s wife, children, and sister did not survive.

To back his claim, he cites open-source intelligence analysis of official PDF files published in the Supreme Leader’s name. He says the documents were produced using the same software and metadata as materials from Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s office, and notes that the design team reportedly switched from Mac computers to Windows computers in early June, matching Ghalibaf’s technical setup. He ends by asking who the world is really dealing with when Trump says he is speaking with Mojtaba Khamenei, if that figure is not actually alive.