There is renewed anxiety over the fate of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not surfaced since his selection by the country’s authorities 8 March this year.
Latest disclosure indicates that he is still recovering from severe facial and leg injuries suffered in the 28 February US-Israeli airstrike that killed his father, the legendary Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the beginning of the war, three people close to his inner circle told Reuters.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife, brother-in-law and sister-in-law were among other members of his family reportedly killed in the strike, which also snuffed lives out of over 40 senior military,clerical and bureaucratic leaders of the theocratic regime who had gathered at the Ayatollah’s well-fortified central Tehran residence for a war meeting.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s face was disfigured in the attack and he suffered a significant injury to one or both legs, all three sources said.
A source familiar with US intelligence assessments told Reuters that Khamenei was believed to have lost a leg.
The CIA declined to comment on Khamenei’s condition. The Israeli Prime Minister’s office didn’t respond to questions,the Guardian UK has reported.
The 56-year-old is nonetheless recovering from his wounds and remains mentally sharp, according to the people, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
He is taking part in meetings with senior officials via audio conferencing and is engaged in decision-making on major issues including the war and negotiations with Washington, two of them said.
The question of whether Khamenei’s health allows him to run state affairs comes during Iran’s moment of gravest peril for decades, with high-stakes peace talks with the US opening in the Pakistani capital Islamabad today.
The accounts of the people close to Khamenei’s inner circle provide the most detailed description of the leader’s condition for weeks. Reuters couldn’t independently verify their descriptions.
Khamenei’s whereabouts, condition and ability to rule still largely remain a mystery to the public, with no photo, video or audio recording of him published since the air attack and his subsequent appointment as his father’s replacement.
Iran’s United Nations Mission did not respond to Reuters’ questions about the extent of Khamenei’s injuries or the reason he has not yet appeared in any images or recordings.
There has been no official Iranian statement on the extent of Khamenei’s injuries.
However, a newsreader on state television described him as a “janbaz”, a term used for those badly wounded in war, after he was named Supreme Leader.
The accounts of Khamenei’s injuries tally with a statement made by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on 13 March when he said that Khamenei was “wounded and likely disfigured.”
Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute, Alex Vatanka, said that, regardless of the severity of his injuries, it was unlikely the new and inexperienced leader would be able to command the overarching power wielded by his father.
While he is seen to represent continuity, it could take years for him to build up the same level of automatic authority, Vatanka added.
“Mojtaba will be one voice but it will not be the decisive one,” he said.
“He needs to prove himself as the credible, powerful, overriding voice. The regime as a whole has to make a decision in terms of where they are going to go.”
One of the people close to Khamenei’s circle said images of the Supreme Leader could be expected to be released within one or two months and that he might even appear in public then, although all three sources stressed he would only emerge when his health and the security situation allowed.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Mojtaba Khamenei…file copy.
