From his early years on the front lines of Iran’s Sacred Defense to decades of religious scholarship, teaching, and service alongside the leadership, Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Husseini Khamenei’s life has been shaped by a longstanding commitment to the Islamic Revolution, according to a biographical account published Tuesday.
The biography of the Islamic Revolution leader was released on September 8, 2026, coinciding with his birth anniversary. It traces his childhood in Mashhad, his participation in the Iran-Iraq War, his seminary education and teaching career, and his administrative and political experience in service of the leadership.
Early Life and Childhood
Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Husseini Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, was born in the holy city of Mashhad in 1969. He was the second son of the martyred Imam, Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei. He spent his childhood in Mashhad until 1978.
Participation in the Sacred Defense
Ayatollah Khamenei completed his primary and middle school education in schools in Mashhad and Tehran, respectively. At the age of 16, while still a student, he joined the front lines of the struggle between truth and falsehood during the Sacred Defense, Iran’s war with Iraq. He joined the Habib ibn Mazahir Battalion of the 27th Mohammad Rasulullah Division and also spent a period with the Sayyed Al-Shuhada Division. He took part in several operations, including Operation Karbala-1 on the front lines.
Sardar Ali Fazli, a veteran commander of the Sacred Defense, described Ayatollah Khamenei’s insistence that his fellow fighters not identify him:
“It was my good fortune to spend some time in the Seyyed al-Shuhada Division alongside our dear brother, Sayyed Mojtaba. At that stage, he asked me to address him as Sayyed Husseini, because we had come here to fulfill our duty and obligation, not for names, titles, or boasting.”
“Sayyed Mojtaba was present in the 10th Division, and during his time with the Sayyed Al-Shuhada Division, we saw many qualities in him. He never asked for more than what the other fighters received; he was content with less than they received. He always sought to be in the most dangerous places and constantly inspected the front lines. He also had a distinctive approach to prayer. When there was no congregational prayer, he would pray in empty, dark places. Despite the many tents available, he would choose the distant and secluded ones for prayer and supplication. This continued throughout his time in the division,” Fazli continued.
Martyr Noor Ali Shoushtari, one of the prominent commanders of the Sacred Defense, also recounted an operation in which he and his brother participated, saying, “Sayyed Mojtaba was upset, so I asked him why. He pointed to his glasses and said they were broken. I told him that was nothing to be upset about. He said he would miss the operation and remain preoccupied with the matter. The operation was extremely complicated, and there was a possibility that some of the forces could be captured, so those at the forefront of the advance took part in it. I secretly asked the friends not to repair Sayyed Mojtaba’s glasses so that he and his brother would miss the operation. But while I was occupied with radio communications and other duties, he took the glasses, temporarily repaired them with a pin, and headed toward the front. I could not stop him, so I contacted his division commander and asked him not to allow the two of them to take part in the assault on the front line.”
“The following day, I went to the area and found the two of them on the Qashan Heights, at the farthest defensive position, where evacuating the wounded was extremely difficult and delivering ammunition and food supplies was very arduous. I spoke with our brother Fazli and told him: These two men have gone to a dangerous place. Their martyrdom is not a problem, but their capture would be costly for us in media terms. He told me, ‘I had informed them the previous night, but they went voluntarily’.”
Seminary Education and Attainment of Ijtihad
Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei began his seminary studies in 1985 at the religious seminaries of Tehran. In 1989, he moved to the Qom seminary. He attended advanced-level courses taught by scholars including Ahmadi Mianji, Ostadi, and Ousti, as well as several other prominent teachers.
Beginning in 1992, His Eminence attended advanced jurisprudence courses on jihad taught by the Mujahid Imam, Grand Ayatollah Imam Khamenei, as well as advanced jurisprudence and principles courses taught by Ayatollah Sheikh Mojtaba Tehrani. During this period, he also studied a number of other disciplines, in addition to completing a specialized English-language course.
Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei married Ms. Zahra Haddad-Adel in 1997. That same year, he returned to Qom to continue his seminary studies and deepen his spiritual development. He attended advanced jurisprudence and principles courses for 17 years under scholars including Vahid Khorasani, Sheikh Javad Tabrizi, Sayyed Musa Shobairi Zanjani, and Sheikh Mohammad Momen Qomi.
His presentation of scholarly reports in Arabic, along with his engagement with academic questions through criticism and discussion with advanced-course instructors, drew particular attention from some of his prominent teachers.
She works as a teacher in a poor neighborhood in southern Tehran.
— Zeinab Al Saffar | زينب الصفّـــار (@ZeinabSaffar) July 4, 2026
Daughter of the Fmr Speaker of the Iranian Parliament and a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, one of the highest bodies in the Islamic Republic.
The wife of Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the Iranian… pic.twitter.com/n4YDl73M9T
Teaching Record and Seminary Activities
Alongside his studies, Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei consistently taught jurisprudence and Islamic legal principles. He began teaching introductory seminary courses at the Tehran seminary. Following a recommendation from the martyred Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei emphasizing the need for development within the seminary and the importance of the works of Martyr Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, he stopped teaching Ma’alem and began teaching Al-Sadr’s Halqat al-Usul.
After moving to Qom, he began teaching other courses at the Imam Khomeini House in the holy city of Qom. He also taught Halqat al-Usul. In 2007, his classes moved to the Faiziyeh Seminary.
In 2008, he began a specialized advanced course on prayer at the office of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei in Qom. At the beginning of the 2009 academic year, at the request of students, he began a general advanced jurisprudence course. A year later, in 2010, he began a general advanced course in legal principles, which continued from the beginning of the principles curriculum through the subject of istishab.
A Glimpse into His Ethical Life
Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei received particular attention from his father and was consistently guided and protected by him in matters of ethics, mysticism, and piety. The following text, written by the martyred leader in the introduction to a book he presented to his son, illustrates this special attention:
“In His Name. I have presented this valuable book to my dear light of my eyes, Mojtaba Husseini. I pray to God that it benefits Islam and Muslims, guides him, strengthens his steps, and protects him from error and misguidance in word and deed. The humble servant of God, Ali Husseini Khamenei.”
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei consistently warned his children against attachment to material things. Accordingly, Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei adopted a simple life as a seminary student. Throughout his years of study and teaching in Qom and Tehran, he also sought to maintain the utmost discretion and distance from public attention.
Administrative and Government Experience
For years, Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei served the martyred leader, at times carrying out his directives and at other times acting as a link between the leadership and political, military, cultural, economic, and other officials and institutions.
The martyred leader’s sons remained free of the conventional partisan and factional activities associated with politics and the revolution. This, however, did not prevent the martyred leader from drawing on his sons’ political and social capabilities in matters related to the leadership.
In the political sphere and in relations with military officials and political figures, the martyred leader made use of the services and capabilities of his son, Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei. This clearly did not mean that he independently or separately intervened in the country’s affairs. Rather, he served as an aide in these matters and remained in the service of his esteemed father.
Over more than 20 years, this role gave Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei extensive knowledge of the country’s political, military, and administrative affairs. He witnessed and accompanied many aspects of his martyred father’s deliberations and decisions, serving as a trusted adviser and confidant.
Those familiar with the martyred leader’s approach to managing the Islamic Revolution attest that his sons, while seriously avoiding interference in the country’s affairs, were trusted aides, reliable advisers, and devoted servants to their martyred father.
Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei’s familiarity with the country’s major issues, his close ties with many senior officials of the system at different stages, the numerous working sessions he held, his extensive studies across various academic disciplines, and his continuous meetings with intellectuals and elites—through which he arrived at fundamental solutions in different fields and addressed both sensitive and major issues of governance—have all constituted a valuable asset in his leadership of the Islamic Revolution.
His continuous contact with military commanders and leaders of the Resistance Front, particularly the Martyr of the Resistance, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and the martyred commander Hajj Qassem Soleimani, represents another important dimension of Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei’s character.
All of these factors have contributed to longstanding and deep hostility toward him from the United States and the Zionist entity, as well as continued efforts to assassinate him and eliminate him physically. They have also involved various forms of verbal and practical threats aimed at preventing his election to lead the Islamic system. Yet, through the care of the Imam of the Age, all of these hostile measures have so far failed.
Source: Al-Manar Website