Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is unconscious and receiving treatment for a “serious” condition, The Times reported, citing US-Israeli intelligence assessments, as questions persist over the 56-year-old leader’s whereabouts during the war with the United States. The report states that Khamenei is unable to rule the country.
Where is Mojtaba Khamenei?
The report said Khamenei is undergoing treatment in the Iranian city of Qom. This contradicts earlier estimates that Khamenei may have been moved out of Iran to Russia for treatment after being injured in a US-Israeli strike on Tehran on 28 February that killed his father, Ali Khamenei, and several other family members.
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According to the report, Khamenei is in a “serious” condition and unable to participate in governance or decision-making.
“Mojtaba Khamenei is being treated in Qom in a serious condition, he cannot participate in any decision-making by the regime,” said a diplomatic memo cited by The Times.
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Qom is one of Shia Islam’s holiest cities and was initially believed to be the final resting place of Ali Khamenei after he was assassinated by the US and Israel on the day the ongoing war began.
He has not been seen in public since February 28
Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the airstrikes that killed his father, was named Iran’s new supreme leader on March 8.
Many, including US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, claimed that Khamenei was also killed or seriously injured in the February 28 airstrikes.
Last week, Russia’s ambassador to Tehran, Alexei Dedov, dismissed reports that Mojtaba Khamenei had been transferred to Moscow, saying the supreme leader was still in Iran.
Mojtaba Khamenei issued several statements
Since his name was announced as the new supreme leader, Iranian authorities have released only written statements attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, along with a handful of alleged videos and images of him that have been labeled as AI-produced.
The latest statement attributed to him was released on Monday, in which he expressed condolences over the killing of the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence chief.
In a written post on social media, Khamenei said that Major General Majid Khademi had joined the “standing line of warriors and fighters” who sacrificed their lives. Israeli strikes killed dozens of top Iranian leaders, including Khamenei’s father.
Khamenei emphasized the ideological commitment of Iran’s armed forces, declaring: “The unbroken ranks of fighters and fighters on the path of truth in Islamic Iran, together with the self-sacrificing armed forces, form such a huge, deeply rooted front that terrorism and crime cannot even break their commitment to jihadist ideals.”
Who is running Iran?
As uncertainty remains over Mojtaba Khamenei’s whereabouts, some have also speculated that he is not involved in decision-making on the ongoing conflict. Many have argued that the real power in Tehran was the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), founded in 1979 by the first Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini as the guardians of the Iranian Revolution.
Key things
- Mojtaba Khamenei’s health raises questions about the stability of Iran’s leadership.
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps may have more power in current decision-making than the Supreme Leader.
- Speculation about Khamenei’s condition reflects broader geopolitical tensions between Iran and the US.
