President Donald Trump is said to be considering assassinating the son of Iran‘s supreme leader as brave protesters have marched again in Tehran, chanting ‘death to Ayatollah’ over the weekend.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s 55-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is his father’s most likely successor due to close ties with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) – a powerful branch of the armed forces designated a terrorist group by the US.
While Trump’s reported assassination threat looms from above, students at the Sharif University of Technology are back on the streets and were chanting ‘death to Khamenei’ and ‘shameless, shameless’ last Saturday, anti-government media site Iran International said.
Protests began against the Ayatollah’s regime over economic grievances in December 2025 but were violently suppressed, with some estimates saying 30,000 demonstrators were killed by pro-government security forces.
More conservative estimates from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency say at least 6,876 people have been killed, alongside 50,000 arrests.
The US Navy ‘armada’ has been gathering on Iranian shores in the Persian Gulf as Trump supported the protesters, saying ‘help is on its way’ on January 22, with more than a third of American personnel now actively deployed in the region.
The White House has been considering launching ‘limited’ military strikes since last Friday to force them to the negotiating table and curb their nuclear programme.
If these negotiations should fail, the assassination of Mojtaba and his father is one option being considered by the president, aiming at wholesale regime change.
Donald Trump is considering assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s 55-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, US officials told Axios
Meanwhile, brave protesters have been chanting ‘death to Khamenei’ in the streets of Tehran after thousands were killed by pro-government security forces
A senior US official told Axios: ‘They have something for every scenario. One scenario takes out the Ayatollah and his son and the mullahs.’
Footage over the weekend showed a large group of student protesters dressed in all black and wearing face coverings as they marched and chanted slogans against the supreme leader.
However, the activists then became involved in clashes with members of the Basij, a volunteer internal police force that is a branch of the IRGC, according to anti-government media.
Video footage showed the moment the two groups began throwing punches at each other.
The US has now assembled the largest amount of airpower in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq War. More than two-thirds of the available E-3 Sentry reconnaissance planes have also been deployed to the region, which analysts take as a sign that President Trump is prepared to launch military action.
America has long feared that Iran is developing nuclear capabilities, and indirect negotiations between the two in Geneva last week reportedly failed to reach a meaningful conclusion.
Iran has denied motivations to develop a nuclear arsenal, but has maintained its right to enrich uranium, which is the most-used fuel for nuclear power.
Mojtaba Khamenei (left), 55, is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son and most likely successor. President Trump is considering assassinating him and his father with a view for wholesale regime change
Video footage from last weekend showed protesters clashing with members of the Basij, a volunteer internal police force that is a branch of the IRGC
More than a third of US Navy forces have now gathered on Iranian shores with Donald Trump threatening ‘limited’ strikes to bring them to the negotiating table on curbing their nuclear programme
The White House has said it was open to Iran continuing a scaled-back enrichment programme as a compromise in order to avoid war between the nations, a senior US official confirmed with Axios. But regulations on this deal would have to be very strict to convince sceptics.
The US official said: [Mr Trump] will be ready to accept a deal that would be substantive and that he can sell politically at home.
‘If the Iranians want to prevent an attack, they should give us an offer we can’t refuse. The Iranians keep missing the windows. If they play games, there won’t be a lot of patience.’
Last Thursday, President Trump gave the Iranian regime ‘ten to 15 days’ to come to a deal. Meanwhile, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, entered the Mediterranean Sea and will be within range within that time frame.
Major military moves are underway in Qatar, where hundreds of personnel are relocating ahead of a possible strike, a US official told ABC News last Saturday.
Although the report did not state the exact base, the major military facility in Qatar is the Al Udeid Air Base.
The outlet reported that 35,000 troops had been stationed in the Middle East ahead of potential military action, including the USS Gerald Ford, 100 cargo planes, fighter jets and the USS Abraham Lincoln.
A combination of satellite images shows an increase in the number of aircraft at the Al Udeid Air Base, near Doha, Qatar, comparing January 17 and February 1
USS Abraham Lincoln sails alongside USS Frank E Petersen Jr and USNS Carl Brashear in the Arabian Sea on February 6
More than 60 attack aircraft were also captured on satellite imagery on Friday at a US base in Jordan – triple the usual number.
Earlier this month, an Iranian doctor said the Iranian regime has been executing protesters in hospital beds by shooting them in the head.
Dr R, a member of the Aida Health Alliance, said that many wounded civilians had been found lying in their treatment beds, still attached to machines, with bullet holes in their heads.
The medic accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of murdering those injured following the Tehran protests and also arresting several medical staff suspected of treating them.
Dr R also shared images with The Jerusalem Post of bodies in black bags with bullet wounds to the head, surrounded by blood, and still connected to medical tubes and catheters. These photographs have not been independently verified.
