major update on the condition of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has emerged – days after Donald Trump claimed he could be dead.
The news follows rumours Khamenei had been flown to Moscow for leg surgery which was “personally offered by Putin” after he was injured in airstrikes. Last week, Donald Trump said the new leader could be dead, having not been seen since his appointment.
“I don’t know if he’s even alive. So far, nobody’s been able to show him,” Trump told NBC. “I’m hearing he’s not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that’s surrender.”
A leaked audio later emerged which suggested Khamenei spared death by just seconds when US-Israeli missiles blitzed his home. Other reports claimed he was placed in a coma, lost at least one leg and suffered serious stomach or liver damage.
There has been much speculation over Khamenei's health ( Image: Getty)
United States Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has now issued an update on Khamenei’s health, telling the House Intelligence Committee that he was badly injured in an Israeli attack.
Khamenei, son of slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was named as the former regime leader’s replacement earlier this month but had not been seen in weeks since he was appointed. He was targeted in the same attack that killed his father on February 28, but is thought to have missed the deadly strike by moments.
Leaked audio footage reportedly revealed Khamenei had stepped outside “to do something” while his family were gathered at the house at around 9am for Ramadan, a move which is believed to have saved his life, but left him with serious injuries.
Mojtaba has replaced his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported the new leader was flown out of Iran and underwent a “successful” operation at one of Putin’s presidential palaces in recent days.
The outlet said the top-secret surgery saw Khamenei flown to Moscow on a Russian military aircraft. While the report has not yet been confirmed, Al-Jarida said it had received information from a “high-ranking source close to the new Iranian Supreme Leader”.
It came days after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Khamenei was “wounded and likely disfigured”. He added: “Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father: dead; he’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run, and he lacks legitimacy.”
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi meanwhile claimed Khamenei was “in full health and is fully managing the situation.”
Yesterday, the new leader broke his silence in a statement honouring the late Iranian security official Ali Larijani, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday.
“It is with great sorrow that I received the painful news of the martyrdom of Mr. Dr. Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and the Leader’s representative on that council, as well as his distinguished son and some of his colleagues,” Khamenei said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The enemies of Islam should know that shedding this blood only makes the mighty tree of the Islamic system stronger, and of course, every drop of blood has its price, which the murderous killers of these martyrs will soon have to pay,” he added.