By War often produces moments that reveal more about a regime than any battlefield clash. One such moment, according to officials familiar with the discussion, unfolded not in Tehran or on the front lines of the widening conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran, but inside a classified intelligence briefing in Washington—where the president of the United States reportedly burst into laughter.
According to individuals familiar with the session, President Donald Trump reacted with laughter when briefed on intelligence assessments suggesting that Iran’s newly installed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, may be gay. The information, reportedly drawn from highly protected sources, also indicated that the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had long harbored doubts about his son’s suitability to inherit the leadership of the Islamic Republic because of the alleged personal matter.
The response inside the briefing room, according to those familiar with the discussion, was one of surprise and amusement.
The report comes amid one of the most dramatic leadership transitions in the modern history of the Iranian regime. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, assumed the role of Supreme Leader on March 8, 2026, after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike on February 28 during Operation Epic Fury. The strike—part of a broader campaign targeting Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure—instantly reshaped the internal balance of power inside Tehran.
For years Mojtaba Khamenei had operated largely behind the scenes. A close advisor and gatekeeper to his father, he was widely known within Iran’s clerical establishment as the quiet figure controlling access to the supreme leader—earning him the nickname “the power behind the robes.” After the elder Khamenei’s death, Iran’s Assembly of Experts moved quickly to install him as successor despite lingering doubts among some clerical elites about his readiness for the role.
U.S. intelligence officials reportedly view the information regarding his personal life as credible. The assessment was derived from sensitive human sources rather than foreign disinformation campaigns aimed at discrediting the new leader.
According to the intelligence cited in the briefing, the alleged long-term relationship involves a former childhood tutor or someone who once worked for the Khamenei family. Sources also claim that while recovering from injuries sustained in the February airstrike that killed his father—along with other family members, including his wife Zahra and teenage son Mohammad Bagher—Mojtaba Khamenei made aggressive sexual advances toward male caregivers, behavior that may have been influenced by heavy medication administered during his treatment.
There is no photographic evidence supporting the allegations. Nevertheless, the information reportedly reached the highest levels of the U.S. government due to the confidence placed in the sourcing.
Rumors about Mojtaba Khamenei’s personal life have circulated inside Iran for years. Some accounts trace the whispers back to at least May 2024, after the helicopter crash that killed then-President Ebrahim Raisi, who had widely been viewed as the elder Khamenei’s preferred successor.
Earlier hints about unusual aspects of Mojtaba’s private life surfaced in a previously leaked U.S. diplomatic cable from 2008, released by WikiLeaks. The cable reported that Mojtaba Khamenei sought treatment in London hospitals for impotence during extended visits in his late 20s and early 30s. According to the document, he married relatively late—around age 30—because of the issue, which doctors ultimately resolved after multiple treatments. His wife reportedly became pregnant after a final two-month stay in London.
Sources familiar with the succession debate inside Tehran say the elder Khamenei had privately considered other candidates in part because of unspecified “issues” surrounding his son’s personal life. Suspicions regarding Mojtaba’s sexuality reportedly contributed to the hesitation. A recent CBS News report similarly noted that the late supreme leader had reservations related to his son’s “personal life.”
Such allegations carry extraordinary implications inside the Islamic Republic.
Under Iranian law, homosexual acts are punishable by death. The regime has historically denied that homosexuality even exists within the country—a position famously articulated in 2007 by then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a speech at Columbia University.
The stark contrast between Iran’s laws and the allegations surrounding its new leader has not gone unnoticed inside U.S. intelligence circles.
One source familiar with the briefing argued that revealing such information would highlight the hypocrisy of a government that publicly persecutes gay people.
“If there was ever a time where it was OK to out somebody, it would be when it’s a leader of a repressive Islamic theocracy that hangs gay people by cranes,” the person told The New York Post.
President Trump has already dismissed Mojtaba Khamenei’s elevation as a sign of weakness inside the Iranian system, previously describing him as a “lightweight” and an “unacceptable” choice to lead the country. U.S. officials expect the younger Khamenei to maintain the regime’s hardline positions on nuclear development and ballistic missile programs, showing little willingness to compromise under American pressure.
The White House has declined to comment publicly on the intelligence briefing or the claims regarding the Iranian leader’s personal life.
Meanwhile, Mojtaba Khamenei himself has yet to appear publicly since assuming power. His current location—and the extent of his recovery from injuries sustained in the February strike—remain unclear. Since taking office, the new supreme leader has issued only written statements through Iranian state media rather than appearing in person.
For a regime that has long built its authority on Islamic fundamentalism and strict social control that has been known for throwing gay men off the roofs of buildings, the rumors now swirling around its new ruler threaten its very foundation. No wonder Donald Trump laughed.
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