On 4 July 2026, Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a decree reappointing Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i as head of the judiciary for a second five-year term. The decision, announced during the third day of funeral rites for former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, extinguishes speculation that the opaque post-succession power reshuffle might reach one of the regime’s most powerful institutions. Instead, observers interpret the move as a deliberate choice to maintain continuity in the state’s security and judicial apparatus at a moment of profound transition.

Official Iranian reactions emphasised cohesion. President Masoud Pezeshkian congratulated Eje'i, stating the reappointment reflected the Supreme Leader’s confidence and pledging his “national unity government” to work closely with the judiciary to uphold rule of law and social justice. Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf lauded Eje'i’s record in judicial transformation and anti-corruption efforts, framing the judiciary as the guarantor of public trust. Both aligned their messages with the new leader’s decree, which made no reference to reform or to the grievances that have fuelled repeated uprisings. Instead, it instructed Eje'i to fulfil the “demands of our martyred leader” and the points in Mojtaba Khamenei’s 28 June message—a document that prioritised pursuing “international criminals” and “aggressors” for the death of the former leader in US-Israeli strikes.

From the perspective of Western and regional analysts, the reappointment forecloses any possibility of judicial moderation. Eje'i, a product of the Haqqani seminary that has produced much of the security elite, has cycled between key posts in the judiciary and intelligence ministry since 1979. He served as prosecutor of the Special Clerical Court, intelligence minister under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and first deputy judiciary chief before assuming the top post in 2021. The United States sanctioned him in 2010 for his role in the violent suppression of the 2009 Green Movement protests, citing arbitrary detention, torture, and forced confessions directed by intelligence forces under his authority. According to analysts in London, his retention indicates that the security apparatus which backed his first appointment retains its grip, and that the new leader—or the constellation of power centres operating in his name—is unwilling to signal any change that might be interpreted as weakness. The decree was issued while Mojtaba Khamenei remained out of public view; he has not made a single live appearance since succeeding his father in March, deepening the ambiguity about who is truly directing the state’s course.

In practical terms, the judiciary under Eje'i is likely to intensify two tracks: externally, pursuing legal actions against foreign states and officials for the military operations that killed Ali Khamenei, as outlined in the 28 June message; and internally, continuing the clampdown on dissent as the regime projects resolve during the succession. Little suggests any relaxation of the mass arrests, opaque trials, and execution rates that have drawn international condemnation. As the Islamic Republic navigates its first leadership change through hereditary succession, the judiciary will remain a central tool for managing public order and punishing perceived enemies. The next formal indicator of direction will be how Eje'i’s second term translates the Supreme Leader’s written instructions into operational decrees and court rulings in the coming months.