Khamenei’s son Mojtaba,a power broker with big ambitions

The anxiety in the streets of Tehran today is the fresh round of struggle between hardliners and reformists that began more than 20 years ago over the legacy of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. And at the centre,or at least very close to it,is Mojtaba Khamenei. Analysts say the ultra-conservative cleric is being positioned to succeed his father but would face tough opposition. Mojtaba Khamenei’s influence became evident when he gave key support to Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential election. The Khameneis are now backing Ahmadinejad against Moussavi.

“This coup taking place is a political liquidation against the old guard by reckless people like Mojtaba and Ahmadinejad,” said Mehdi Khalaji,an expert on Iran with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Mojtaba is a secretive man who doesn’t want to “be on people’s tongues”,said Mohsen Sazegara,an Iranian journalist and former Government official. “Nobody knows much about him.”

The younger Khamenei is the “most influential person in his father’s court”,said Ali Afshari,a dissident and reformist who spent three years in jail for running pro-democracy programmes. “The question is,what happens when his father is gone? Mojtaba needs to hold on to the security apparatus.”

Analysts say Mojtaba Khamenei lacks the religious and political stature to overcome the Opposition he would face in the Assembly of Experts,the body charged with selecting the supreme leader.