At the last minute, a handwritten note was presented to the members of Iran's Assembly of Experts, when they were to elect the next supreme leader in early March, according to The New York Times.
On paper, it was implied that the late Ali Khamenei himself did not want to see his son as successor.
Ali Moalemi, a member of the Council of Experts, likened the whole thing to a coup.
"There were attempts to get the members of the assembly to change their minds and pull us in a different direction," he said in a recorded speech, according to the American newspaper.
The attempt failed - and Mojtaba Khamenei was elected as Iran's third supreme leader.
More stubborn
According to The New York Times, both Ali Larijani, who was very close to Mojtaba's father, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wanted to see someone else, more moderate and unifying, as leader.
But Mojtaba Khamenei had powerful allies behind him, including the head of the Revolutionary Guard, Ahmad Vahidi, and the speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
Now that Larijani, who is relatively pragmatic by Iranian standards, has been killed, and Mojtaba Khamenei continues to live in hiding, hard-line actors such as Vahidi and Ghalibaf are believed to have become increasingly powerful.
Together they represent both Iran's political and military rule.
Speaker and military leader
Ahmad Vahidi is the third head of the Revolutionary Guards in less than a year. The other two have been killed. He has been described as a spider in the web of cells formed to keep the war going even when key leaders are killed.
He has also held several ministerial positions and is considered influential beyond the military.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as speaker, has long been in the Iranian top echelon. He took over from Larijani and represents Iran's most dogmatic faction. He also has a background as a commander in the Revolutionary Guard, and during the current war has often made aggressive statements toward the United States and Israel.
Iranian-American political scientist and Iran expert Vali Nasr speculates that Larijani's replacement will be appointed by the Revolutionary Guard.
“With each assassination, the US and Israel contribute to Iran's leadership becoming increasingly radicalized,” Nasr writes on X.
