Hassan Khomeini was born into a family with deep roots in Iran’s Shiite religious establishment. His paternal grandfather was Ruhollah Khomeini, while his paternal grandmother was Khadija Thaqafi. His father, Seyyed Ahmad Khomeini, was the second son of Ruhollah Khomeini and played an important role in assisting his father during the years before and after the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
Hassan’s mother, Fatemeh Tabatabaei, also came from a distinguished religious family. She was the daughter of Seyyed Mohammad Baqir Soltani and Sediqeh Sadr, connecting Hassan Khomeini to another important clerical lineage. His family background therefore brought together several influential branches of Iran’s Shiite scholarly tradition.
Hassan Khomeini has two brothers, Yasser Khomeini and Ali Khomeini. The family remained closely connected to the religious and political environment created by Ruhollah Khomeini. Hassan spent part of his childhood in both Qom and Najaf, two cities that have historically been among the most important centers of Shiite Islamic scholarship.
