U.S. intelligence agencies believe Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei may be gay — and President Trump reportedly laughed out loud when he heard the news. The explosive claim is raising serious questions about the man now leading one of America’s biggest adversaries on the world stage.
What U.S. Intelligence Is Saying
According to the New York Post, two intelligence community officials and a third person close to the White House confirmed the claim. All three sources said U.S. spy agencies view the allegation as credible — not as disinformation designed to weaken Khamenei’s authority. One source described it as “derived from one of the most protected sources that the government has.”
The intelligence reportedly suggests that Mojtaba, 56, has had a long-term sexual relationship with his childhood tutor. A third source said the relationship involved someone who formerly worked for the Khamenei family. While no photographic evidence exists, sources say the information was taken seriously enough to be briefed at the highest levels of government.
“The fact that this was elevated to the highest of high levels shows you there’s some confidence in this,” one source told the Post.
Trump’s Reaction Inside the Briefing Room
President Trump could not hide his surprise when he received the intelligence briefing. Sources say he laughed aloud, and others in the room joined in. One senior intelligence official reportedly “has not stopped laughing about it for days,” according to a person familiar with the meeting. The White House did not provide a comment for the original report.
Trump had previously called Mojtaba Khamenei a “lightweight” and said he was an “unacceptable” choice to lead Iran. The new supreme leader is seen by many analysts as someone unlikely to give in to U.S. demands to stop Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Who Is Mojtaba Khamenei?
Mojtaba Khamenei was selected as Iran’s Supreme Leader on March 8, 2025, following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a February 28 airstrike. He had long been known as “the power behind the robes” for acting as his aging father’s gatekeeper. His wife and teenage son were also reported killed in that same airstrike.
His path to the top was not without controversy. His father reportedly had doubts about Mojtaba’s suitability to rule, partly due to what sources described as unspecified issues in his personal life. “His father and others suspected he was gay and that was something that people were spreading to try to stop his ascension,” one source explained.
A 2008 Diplomatic Cable Adds Context
The claim is not entirely new. A classified U.S. diplomatic cable from 2008, published by WikiLeaks, described Mojtaba receiving medical treatment in London for impotence. The State Department file noted he married “relatively late in life” around age 30 and made four trips to hospitals in the United Kingdom before his wife became pregnant. Analysts say these details, taken together with newer intelligence, may lend credibility to the current allegations.
The Stark Hypocrisy at the Heart of This Story
If the intelligence is accurate, it would represent a stunning contradiction. Under Iranian law, homosexual conduct is a capital offense. Gay Iranians have been executed, with some reportedly hanged from construction cranes as a public warning. The country does permit surgical sex change operations, but human rights groups say some gay men are pressured into undergoing them to avoid criminal punishment.
Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, believed to be an ally of Mojtaba, once claimed in 2007 that Iran had no gay people at all. One of the Post’s sources addressed the ethical tension around disclosing someone’s sexual orientation without their consent. “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 source said.
What This Means for U.S.-Iran Relations
The revelation comes at a deeply sensitive moment in U.S.-Iran relations. Ongoing tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions have kept diplomacy stalled for months. According to Reuters, Iran’s nuclear program continues to advance despite international pressure, and Mojtaba is widely expected to take a hardline stance similar to — or even tougher than — his father’s.
Mojtaba’s exact location and health condition remain unknown. He is believed to have been wounded in the same airstrike that killed his father. How he recovers, and how quickly he consolidates power, could shape the direction of Iran’s foreign policy for years to come.
The Bottom Line
The United States now finds itself negotiating, indirectly, with a man its own spy agencies believe leads a double life — one that would be punishable by death under the very laws he now enforces. Whether this intelligence becomes a diplomatic tool, a political talking point, or simply a footnote in history remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the leadership of Iran has never looked more complicated — or more contradictory.