Mojtaba Khamenei, selected by Iran's Assembly of Experts as Supreme Leader in March 2026 following his father Ali Khamenei's death in a February US-Israeli airstrike, has maintained a near-total absence from public view amid the ongoing conflict. Reports indicate he was not in Tehran during the attack that killed his father and others, and subsequent accounts describe injuries or security-driven seclusion, including skipping his father's later funeral ceremonies due to Israeli threats. Iranian officials have issued statements affirming his health and authority through written messages and decrees, while some regime-linked sources have floated post-war discussions of selecting a replacement citing physical limitations or sustainability concerns. These factors, alongside internal factional tensions and the war's impact on regime stability, shape trader assessments of the likelihood he remains in Iran or departs for safety or medical reasons.