Khamenei family

Khamenei family
Parent family
Extended descent
  • Banu Hashim (claimed)
  • Alids (claimed)
  • Husaynids (claimed)
  • Sadat-e Hosseini (claimed)
  • Mir-Fakhrayi (claimed)
  • Sultan-al-Ulama Ahmad (also known as Seyyed Ahmad; claimed
  • Sayyid of Aftasi (claimed)
Country
Current regionMiddle East
Place of originKhameneh, Guarded Domains of Iran
Founded1895 (1895)
FounderJavad Khamenei
Current headMojtaba Khamenei
TitlesHonorific title:
Imam
Hujjat al-Islam
Seyyed
Ayatollah
Grand Ayatollah
Political titles:
Member of Assembly of Experts for the Constitution
Member of Islamic Consultative Assembly
Deputy Chief of Staff for Political and Security Affairs
Wakil of the Office of the Supreme Leader
Head of the Supreme Defense Council
Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces
President
Supreme Leader of Iran
MembersJavad Khamenei
Alaviyeh Khamenei
Batoul Khamenei
Fatemeh Soltan Khamenei
Khadijeh Mirdamadi
Mohammad Khamenei
Sheikh-ul-Islami
Hadi Khamenei
Badri Khamenei
Ali Tehrani
Farideh Moradkhani
Four other children of Badri Khamenei
Mohammad Hassan Khamenei
Ali Khamenei
Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh
Mostafa Khamenei
One daughter of Azizollah Khoshvaght
Mojtaba Khamenei
Zahra Haddad-Adel
Mohammad Bagher Khamenei
Fatemeh Sadaat Khamenei
Mohammad Amin Khamenei
Other child of Boshra Khamenei
Masoud Khamenei
Meysam Khamenei
Boshra Khamenei
Mohammad Javad Mohammadi Golpaygani
Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani
Hoda Khamenei
Mesbah Bagheri Kani
Connected membersMohsen Kharazi
Mehdi Kharrazi
Kamal Kharrazi
Sadegh Kharazi
Mohammad Bagher Kharazi
Kamal Kharazi
Mansoura Raees Qassem
Two Children of Kamal Kharazi
Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel
Tayyebeh Mahrouzadeh
Other three children of Haddad-Adel
Abolghasem Mohammadi Golpaygani
Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani
Mohammad Hassan Mohammadi Golpaygani
Azizollah Khoshvaght
Two sons and three other daughters of Azizollah Khoshvaght
DistinctionsHusayn ibn Ali (claimed)
TraditionsTwelver Shia Islam

The Khamenei family is an Iranian religious and political family that has ruled Iran since Ali Khamenei was elected the second supreme leader of Iran in 1989. After his assassination in February 2026, he was succeeded by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei. Their predecessors as the family of the supreme leader were the Khomeini family headed by Ruhollah Khomeini from 1979 to 1989.

The Khamenei family has played a prominent role in Iranian politics since the 1980s after Ali Khamenei became president of Iran in 1981. The family is of Iranian Azerbaijani and Persian origin and claim to be Sayyids, descended from Ali al-Sajjad, the fourth Shia Imam. Ali Khamenei was the most powerful member of the family until his assassination.