Iran’s supreme leader wounded, disfigured, sources say

Sources say Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is recovering from serious facial and leg wounds he suffered in the air strike that killed his father at the beginning of the war.

Three people close to Khamenei’s inner circle told Reuters that Khamenei’s face was disfigured and he was seriously injured in one or both legs in the attack on his compound in central Tehran.

Still, the 56-year-old man is recovering from his injuries and remains mentally fit, according to the people, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Two of them said he participated in meetings via audio conference with senior officials and was involved in decision-making on key issues, including the war and negotiations with Washington.

The question of whether Khamenei’s health allows him to manage state affairs comes as Iran faces its most serious moment of danger in decades and after high-stakes peace talks with the United States began on Saturday in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.

Accounts from people close to Khamenei’s inner circle offer the most detailed account of the leader’s situation in weeks. Reuters could not independently verify these statements.

Khamenei’s whereabouts, status, and ability to govern still remain largely a mystery to the public; No photographs, videos or audio recordings of him have been released since the airstrike and his appointment to replace his father on March 8.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to Reuters’ questions about the extent of Khamenei’s injuries or why he had not yet appeared in any footage or footage.

Khamenei was injured in the attack on February 28, the first day of the war launched by the USA and Israel, in which his father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had ruled the country since 1989, was killed.

Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife, brother-in-law and sister-in-law were among other family members killed in the attack.

There was no official statement from Iran regarding the extent of Khamenei’s injuries. But an announcer on state television described him after his election as a “junkie”, a term used for those seriously injured in war.

Statements regarding Khamenei’s injuries align with a statement by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on March 13, when he said Khamenei was “injured and possibly disfigured.”

A source familiar with US intelligence assessments told Reuters that Khamenei is believed to have lost a leg.

The CIA declined to comment on Khamenei’s situation. The Israeli prime minister’s office did not respond to questions.

Whatever the severity of his injuries, the new and inexperienced leader is unlikely to command the overall power his father had, said Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

While Vatanka appears to represent continuity, it may take years for it to establish the same level of automatic authority, he said.

“Mojtaba will be the only voice, but it will not be the determining voice,” he said.

“He needs to prove himself as a reliable, strong and superior voice. The regime as a whole has to make a decision about where they are going.”

One of the people close to Khamenei’s circle said that the religious leader’s photos can be expected to be released in a month or two and may even become public then; However, all three sources emphasized that he will only appear when his health and safety situation allow it.

In Iran’s theocratic system of government, ultimate power is supposed to rest in the hands of the religious leader, a respected Shiite Muslim cleric appointed by a parliament of 88 ayatollahs.

While the leader supervises the elected president, he directly directs parallel institutions, including the Revolutionary Guard, a powerful political and military force.

Iran’s first religious leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had unquestioned authority as the charismatic leader of the revolution and the most knowledgeable cleric of his time.

His successor, Ali Khamenei, was a less respected cleric but served as Iran’s president. After his appointment in 1989, he spent decades consolidating his authority, in part by encouraging the power of the Revolutionary Guard.

Senior Iranian sources have previously told Reuters that his son, Mujtaba, does not have the same absolute power.

The Revolutionary Guard, which helped elevate him to the top post after his father’s assassination, emerged as the dominant voice in strategic decisions during the war.

Iran’s mission to the UN did not respond to questions about the force used by the guards and the new religious leader.

Khamenei, an influential figure in his father’s office, previously spent years exerting power at the highest levels of the Islamic Republic and established relationships with senior guards, officials and insiders said.

Vatanka said it was widely seen that he would continue his father’s hard-line approach due to his connections with the guards, but we don’t know much about his worldview.

Khamenei’s first communication with Iranians as religious leader took place on March 12; In a written statement read by a television news anchor, he said the Strait of Hormuz should remain closed and warned regional countries to close US bases.

His office has since released several more brief written statements from him; This includes March 20, when he welcomes the Iranian New Year, which he calls the “year of resistance.”

Other senior officials also made public policy statements regarding Iran’s stance on the war, its approach to diplomacy, its neighbors, ceasefire negotiations and domestic unrest.

Khamenei’s absence is widely discussed on Iran’s social media and messaging app groups, when the country’s spotty internet allows, along with conspiracy theories about his situation and who is running the country.

One of the popular memes doing the rounds on the internet is one that reads, “Where is Mojtaba?” It is a photograph of an empty chair under a spotlight with the slogan.

But some government supporters, including a senior member of the Basij militia, a volunteer paramilitary group led by the Revolutionary Guard, said it was important for Khamenei to keep a low profile given the threat posed by U.S. and Israeli air strikes that have wiped out much of the country’s leadership.

A lower-ranking Basij member agreed.

“Why would he go out in public? To become a target for these criminals?” Mohammad Hosseini from the city of Qom said in a text message.