Iran’s new Supreme Leader is reportedly unconscious in one of Iran’s holiest cities, unable to run the country he inherited from his dead father.
Mojtaba Khamenei is reportedly being treated for a ‘severe’ medical condition, American and Israeli intelligence have found.
A memo shared amongst Gulf allies revealed Khamenei’s location for the first time, The Times reported.
The memo mentioned that Khamenei was ‘unable to be involved in any decision-making by the regime’.
As for his father, Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an air strike in the early days of the war, his body is being prepared for burial in Qom.
The reports regarding the younger Khamenei are bound to spark futher speculation, after it was initially reported that he suffered serious injuries in the strike which killed his father.
There were claims that Khamenei lost one leg and suffered serious abdominal injuries in a US-Israeli air strike that wiped out his family. Some reports said he’s in a coma.
Still, days after the deadly strike and being named as the new Supreme Leader, he issued a written statement.
‘I assure everyone that we will not refrain from avenging the blood of your martyrs,’ he said.
‘The revenge we are considering is not only related to the martyrdom of the great leader of the revolution; rather, every member of the nation who is martyred by the enemy is an independent subject for the revenge case.’
The legitimacy of the statement has come under scrutiny, given the claims about his health and the lack of any public appearance in more than a month.
Gathering for Ramadan in the same bunker, Mojtaba Khamenei’s father, Ali Khamenei, mother, Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, his wife of 20 years, Zahra and one of his sons, reported as Mohammad, were all killed in the strike that launched the war in late February.
In that strike, Mojtaba suffered a fractured foot, a bruise around his left eye, as well as minor lacerations to his face, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
Initial reports said he was seeking treatment in the intensive care unit at Sina University Hospital in Tehran after being injured.
Dr Katayoun Shahandeh, a Lecturer in the history of Art and Museology, previously told Metro: ‘It is very likely that retaliation and resistance will become central themes in Mojtaba Khamenei’s leadership, at least in rhetoric.
‘The strikes that killed the former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (Mojtaba’s father) and members of his family will inevitably shape the political atmosphere in Tehran.
‘Reports suggest that Mojtaba himself was injured in the same attack and lost close relatives, which makes the moment not only political but deeply personal.’
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