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US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Pete Hegseth said at a press conference that Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was injured and “probably disfigured.”
No photographs of Khamenei have been published since the Israeli attack at the beginning of the war that killed most of his family, including his father and wife. His first comments came in a statement read by a television presenter on Thursday. In the statement, he promised to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and called on neighboring countries to close US bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting them.
Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing: “We know that the new so-called non-religious leader was injured and possibly disfigured. He made a statement yesterday. He actually made a weak statement, but there was no audio or video. It was a written statement.”
“There are many cameras and voice recorders in Iran. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father is dead. He is scared, injured, on the run and lacks legitimacy.”
An Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that the newly appointed supreme leader was slightly injured but continued his activities after state television described him as a war casualty.
With Reuters Josefine Ganko
