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3. U.S. Intelligence Says Iran’s Late Leader Had Doubts About Son’s Succession

U.S. intelligence assessments presented to President Donald Trump suggest that Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had reservations about his son Mojtaba Khamenei succeeding him as the country’s top authority, according to sources familiar with the briefings.

Officials told CBS News that intelligence agencies recently briefed Trump and a small circle of senior advisers on internal Iranian dynamics surrounding the succession, indicating that the elder Khamenei had long expressed doubts about his son’s ability to lead the Islamic Republic.

The intelligence assessments reportedly suggested that some figures within Iran’s ruling establishment viewed Mojtaba Khamenei as lacking the political and leadership capacity required to run the country.

Sources cited by Al-Arabiya also said that the former supreme leader was aware of personal issues involving his son, which contributed to his hesitation about the prospect of him assuming the position.

Leadership Transition After Wartime Strike

The reports surfaced days after a council of Iranian clerics selected Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, as the country’s new supreme leader.

The appointment came shortly after Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli missile strike during the opening phase of the U.S.–Israeli military campaign against Iran, which began roughly two weeks ago.

According to officials and reports, Mojtaba Khamenei was also injured during the strike, though he remained within the inner circle of the Iranian leadership following his father’s death.

Senior U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have been briefed on the intelligence findings related to Iran’s new leader.

Trump Questions Iran’s Leadership

In private conversations with advisers, Trump reportedly downplayed the significance of the intelligence assessments, arguing that Iran may currently lack clear leadership altogether.

According to people familiar with those discussions, the U.S. president even speculated that Mojtaba Khamenei may have died from his injuries, though that possibility has not been confirmed.

Trump has also publicly questioned the legitimacy of the leadership transition.

During an interview with Fox News, he suggested that Iran’s leadership structure had been severely weakened.

“Their leadership is gone, the second leadership is gone, and now the third leadership is in trouble,” Trump said, adding that Mojtaba Khamenei was someone “his father didn’t want in the first place.”

Trump also described the new leader as a weak figure who would not be an acceptable leader for Iran and hinted that the United States should have influence over the country’s future leadership.

Revolutionary Guards Seen as Holding Real Power

According to officials in the White House, the political vacuum created by the conflict may have shifted effective control of Iran toward the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

U.S. officials believe the powerful military organization is now effectively managing the country’s strategic decisions, marking a significant departure from the traditional clerical leadership structure that has governed Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The growing influence of the IRGC could represent a major transformation in Iran’s power structure if confirmed.

U.S. Offers Reward for Information

In a separate development, the U.S. government has offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the location of Mojtaba Khamenei and nine other Iranian officials.

Mojtaba Khamenei has now become Iran’s third supreme leader since the Islamic Revolution, following his father, Ali Khamenei, and the republic’s founding leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The transition has drawn particular attention because it represents the first time the position has effectively passed from father to son, an unusual development in a political system that originally overthrew Iran’s hereditary monarchy.

Uncertainty Over Health of New Leader

Questions also remain regarding the health of the new supreme leader.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that Mojtaba Khamenei was injured and likely disfigured during the military strike that killed his father.

Vice President JD Vance also said the attack had left the new leader wounded, though officials acknowledged that his exact medical condition remains unclear.

The uncertainty surrounding Iran’s leadership comes as the war between Iran and the United States and Israel enters its third week, raising further questions about the stability of the country’s political structure and the direction of its government during the ongoing conflict.