**Mojtaba Khamenei’s March 2026 selection by the Assembly of Experts as Supreme Leader followed the February 28 assassination of his father Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli strikes that opened a broader conflict.** An interim council of the president, judiciary chief, and a Guardian Council member managed affairs during the transition. Mojtaba has remained out of public view since the attack, prompting repeated speculation about his condition, while President Masoud Pezeshkian affirmed in late September interviews that the leader is alive, in good health, and providing strategic direction. Ongoing wartime conditions, security constraints, and questions over collective versus singular authority continue to shape assessments of regime stability and any near-term further succession risk.