Within hours of Mojtaba Khamenei being named Iran’s new Supreme Leader, state institutions responded with solemn messages of loyalty while Persian-language social media filled with satire, as many Iranian users reacted with disbelief, political frustration and dark humor.
Rather than confronting the official narrative head-on, many posts mocked the opaque and unusual circumstances of Mojtaba’s rise – especially the emergence of a leader who, for many Iranians, remains almost entirely unseen.
The jokes fall broadly into several recurring themes.
‘A leader no one has seen’
Many jokes focus on Mojtaba Khamenei’s near-total absence from public life.
Unlike most senior political figures, Mojtaba has rarely appeared in speeches or interviews, and only a handful of recordings of his voice are publicly known.
Some users turned this into a technological joke. One widely shared post said:
“There isn’t even enough audio of Mojtaba Khamenei for AI to train on to make a fake voice of him.”
Others simply pointed to the unusual situation more directly.
“We are entering the second day of Mojtaba Khamenei’s leadership, and still nobody has seen him.”
Several posts framed the absence through humor about remote work – a concept familiar to many younger Iranian users.
“If you like working remotely, the best job is Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Nobody asks where you are, what you’re doing, or even whether you’re alive.”
Another post used religious imagery to exaggerate the idea that he has remained invisible.
“We’re in a situation where the appearance of Mahdi is more likely than the appearance of Mojtaba.”
Mahdi – the messianic figure awaited in Shiite Islam – frequently appears in Iranian satire as a way of describing events considered extremely unlikely.
Another viral joke suggested Mojtaba’s leadership was almost abstract.
“In the phrase ‘Mojtaba’s leadership,’ the literary device being used is personification.”
The remark plays on a Persian rhetorical term used in literature classes, implying that leadership is being attributed to something that has not visibly acted.
‘The only known quote’
Another recurring joke centers on how little Mojtaba Khamenei has publicly said.
One of the few widely circulated videos attributed to him shows him announcing that his religious classes would be canceled.
That short clip has now become a punchline.
One post summarized the situation: “The only existing quote from Imam Mojtaba Khamenei: ‘Next week there will be no class.’”
The post was accompanied by a parody image styled like the decorative wall murals commonly seen on schools and public buildings in Iran, where passages from religious figures and political leaders are often painted alongside floral designs.
In the satirical version circulating online, however, the wall bears only the mundane line about next week’s class being canceled – recasting an ordinary notice as the supposedly defining quotation of a newly appointed Supreme Leader.
Other jokes focused on Mojtaba’s lack of a public résumé. One post mocked the situation using corporate language:
“You don’t have a résumé, you want to work remotely, you got the job through connections – and you don’t even have a photo for your CV so they have to generate one with AI.”
Another user suggested that even performing a simple task could count as experience.
“At least bury your father so you can have one executive job on your résumé.”
‘Schrödinger’s Khamenei’
A darker strand of satire reflects the uncertainty and speculation that often accompany major political events in Iran.
Some jokes played with the idea that Mojtaba’s status remains ambiguous because he has not appeared publicly.
One widely shared post referenced the famous physics thought experiment known as Schrödinger’s cat:
“I think instead of Schrödinger’s cat we’re dealing with Schrödinger’s Khamenei. Until they show him, we don’t know whether he’s alive or dead.”
Some posts jokingly suggested that naming Mojtaba as leader could solve several political problems at once.
“Announcing Mojtaba as leader was actually smart. You can’t kill someone who’s already dead.”
Another post used similarly blunt humor:
“You know what’s better than one dead Khamenei? Two dead Khameneis.”
Other jokes focused on the strange overlap between the funeral of the late leader and the introduction of the new one. One user wrote sarcastically:
“Right now the Islamic Republic has two leaders on earth – one they won’t bury and another they won’t reveal.”
Even the burial itself became a subject of dark humor.
“The only reason they haven’t buried Khamenei yet is to save funeral costs – they’re waiting a few days to bury Mojtaba too.”
*Iran intl*
