Iranās first gayatollah?
Spectator. Monday, March 16, 2026.
Something queerās afoot in the Islamic Republic. As Mojtaba Khamenei was announced as Iranās new Supreme Leader last week, reports emerged that his own father, the late ayatollah Ali Khamenei, didnāt want him to take power and even went as far as making this explicit in his will, according to the New York Post.
Now, the Post reveals that his fatherās qualms were over Mojtabaās alleged sexual attraction to men.
When President Trump was briefed that Mojtaba may be gay, he ācouldnāt contain his surprise and laughed aloudā while others in the room joined in his reaction, sources close to the intelligence community and the White House told the Post.
Itās an odd turn of events when the repressive theocracy is the one with the gay leader, and the western democracy is the one using intelligence agents to out someone. But here we are. Maybe all this angst over the āStraitā of Hormuz should have given us a clueā¦
At least Mojtaba wonāt be too devastated about his wife getting rocketed. It was his childhood tutor whom he reportedly had a long-term sexual relationship with. One wonders if he didnāt have a certain complex about male authority figures. Daddy issues, much?
While itās illegal to be gay in Iran, the government does allow sex changes to spare gay men from criminal punishment (such as, er, the death penalty). Cockburn hears rumors that Mojtaba is currently undergoing secret treatment in a Russian hospital. Could this regime-change war bring Iran not only its first gayatollah, but a female supreme leader?
