Israeli sources say Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is weak
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According to Israeli national security sources, Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is little more than an “empty presence” who is not at the head of the regime.
The son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli attack on February 28, is also linked to what authorities describe as a “wrongful” regime.
“The new leader is an empty presence,” said Kobi Michael, a defense analyst at the Institute of Technology. Institute for National Security Studies and Misgavhe told Fox News Digital.
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“Mojtaba Khamenei does not appear in public, but at the same time we have reliable information that he does not control or direct the regime or what is left of it.
“The current Iranian leadership is broken, confused and nearly dysfunctional.”
A mourner, right, holds a poster depicting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the religious leader during a funeral for senior Iranian military officers and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israeli operation on March 11, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)
According to accessed audio recordings, Mojtaba reportedly escaped death within minutes and took a walk around the camp when her father was killed on February 28, shortly before the Israeli missile attack. Telegram.
In the audio recording reported to belong to a meeting held on March 12, details about the attacks in which many members of the Khamenei family were killed were revealed.
Mazaher Hosseini, chief of protocol in Khamenei’s office, can be heard in the audio recording telling senior leaders that Mojtaba had suffered a “minor injury to her leg.”
Since being elected religious leader, Mojtaba has not appeared in public even once. Instead, a message was read on Iranian state television warning that attacks would continue and urging Gulf countries to close US bases.
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Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Gholamreza Soleimani, a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who commands Basij forces (AP Photo/Bilal Hussain, File; Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images, File)
Although other reports claimed that Mojtaba was in critical condition or even in a coma, Iranian officials insisted that the new religious leader was in good health.
Mojtaba Khamenei vowed revenge on Wednesday after senior security official Ali Larijani was killed in an Israeli attack.
The statement said, “Such terrorist acts only reflect the hostility of the enemies and strengthen the determination of the Islamic nation. Undoubtedly, justice will be served.”
Larijani, one of Iran’s top security figures, was killed after Israeli intelligence found him and other officials on the outskirts of Tehran.
Other senior figures, including Basij militia leader Ghulamreza Soleimani, were also killed in recent attacks, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Michael said of the ongoing attacks on regime figures: “This is not a new phase, it is an ongoing effort, a very successful and impressive phase, and an important component of the strategy aimed at weakening the Iranian regime.”
“This is to the extent that it cannot re-establish itself and/or become a serious threat and destabilizing player again in the wider Middle East.”
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President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
After the first US-Israeli attacks, President Donald Trump told the Iranian people that their “moment of freedom” was approaching.
Trump claimed that the United States would help overthrow the Iranian regime and said, “When we are done, take over your government. It will be yours.” he said.
“At the same time, by weakening the regime and crippling its capacity in general and its internal control in particular, the United States and Israel are facilitating the conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow the regime,” Michael added.
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“This is the ultimate victory in their eyes, and the path to that goal is to try to increase the damage wherever possible.”
