Iran’s New Supreme Leader is ‘Probably Gay’

Iran’s ruling elite made a grand, red-carpet entrance Friday for the first of three funeral ceremonies honoring slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — but the dead ayatollah’s own son and successor was nowhere to be seen.

Mojtaba Khamenei, whom U.S. intelligence reportedly assessed as “probably gay,” skipped the highly choreographed ceremony in Tehran as senior regime officials, loyalists and representatives from dozens of countries gathered to mourn his father.

The extraordinary absence immediately raised fresh questions about the secretive new supreme leader, who has not been publicly seen or heard from since the Feb. 28 strike that killed his father, wife and 14-month-old child.

Reports have suggested Mojtaba was seriously injured or possibly disfigured in the attack. Although statements have since been issued in his name, Iran’s tightly controlled government has provided no clear, independently verifiable proof that he is alive, healthy or actively running the country.

His disappearance has also renewed attention on a politically explosive U.S. intelligence assessment concerning his private life.

The Post reported in March that American intelligence officials believed Mojtaba Khamenei was “probably gay” and had briefed President Donald Trump on the assessment.

No public evidence has been released to prove the claim, and sexual relationships between men can be punished severely under Iran’s hard-line Islamic legal system. If the assessment is accurate, it would expose a stunning contradiction at the heart of a regime notorious for persecuting gay people while demanding strict religious obedience from ordinary Iranians.

That reported intelligence finding has added another layer of secrecy and potential hypocrisy to Mojtaba’s rise. Iran’s leadership has said little about his condition, his whereabouts or the extent to which he is actually exercising power behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, the caskets of Ali Khamenei, his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were displayed inside Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah. The coffins were decorated in the colors of the Iranian flag and placed on raised platforms beneath ornate blue Persian tilework.

Senior regime figures appeared in full force, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Ghalibaf was filmed sobbing dramatically into his open hands in footage released by Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency. The supposed regime tough guy appeared to shake as he wept, while Araghchi stood beside him and stared solemnly at the ground.

Representatives from China, Russia, Lebanon, Pakistan and numerous other non-Western countries also attended. Iranian state media claimed delegations from roughly 100 nations were expected to participate in memorial events scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Monday.

The international display of sympathy quickly sparked outrage.

“Anyone who mourns Khamenei is pretty sick in the head,” Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote on X. “Attendance at his funeral is a low point for those who went.”

Goldberg also criticized the United Nations for reportedly sending condolences.

“Condolence cards from the UN are a reminder of why we need to defund this anti-American institution,” he wrote.

But the biggest mystery remained the man who was missing.

Mojtaba Khamenei’s failure to attend his own father’s funeral — combined with reports about his injuries, the lack of proof of life and the provocative U.S. intelligence assessment about his sexuality — is fueling growing speculation about who is truly in control of Iran.

For a regime built on secrecy, fear and rigid Islamic rule, the silence surrounding its new leader is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.