WASHINGTON, D.C. — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 2, 2026, that Mojtaba Khamenei is increasingly engaged at some level in the Iranian government. Rubio made the statement during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on the fiscal year 2027 State Department budget.
Rubio, who previously served as a senator from Florida until January 2025, provided the assessment while responding to questions about Iran’s political leadership. He did not specify the nature or extent of Mojtaba Khamenei’s involvement, and public information about Mojtaba’s official role in Iran remains limited. He is the son of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with whom he is sometimes confused.
During the same hearing, Rubio outlined the administration’s stance on Iran sanctions, emphasizing that relief would be tied to Tehran’s nuclear activities. "Right now, everything that's been discussed with them (Iran) is that… any sanctions relief is condition-based, which means it has to be in return for the reason why those sanctions were put in place in the first place, which is their nuclear program," Rubio said.
Rubio also addressed Iran’s military strategy, stating that Tehran had sought to construct a conventional weapons capability as a protective measure. "What they tried to do is they were going to try to build a conventional shield and hide behind that conventional shield," he said. US-Israeli strikes on February 28, 2026, have since eroded that conventional shield, according to US assessments. Despite this, Iran retains a large number of drones.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen criticized Rubio’s testimony and the administration’s broader Iran policy. "Instead, you sent Congress a war powers notification saying we are not in active hostilities with Iran, while the US was conducting strikes against Iran, and Iran was bombing US embassies and bases throughout the Middle East. That was not consultation, it was an attempt to avoid answering to this committee and this Congress about this war," Shaheen said. She also expressed concern about the focus on foreign conflicts, stating, "When I talk to my constituents, they ask for economic relief at home, not regime change in Havana or Caracas or Tehran." The Senate has since voted to advance a war powers resolution that would end US involvement in the Iran conflict unless President Trump secures congressional authorization.