The Daily Telegraph obtained an audio recording in which a senior official from the office of the late Ali Khamenei reports to other top figures about the results of the bombing on the morning the war began, in which Ali Khamenei and many senior regime officials were killed. The official explains that his heir, Mojtaba Khamenei, survived only because he had stepped outside into the courtyard a few minutes earlier-moments before a missile struck as he was climbing the stairs.
The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was seconds away from being killed by Israel at the start of the war, surviving only because he went for a walk in the courtyard just before his home was hit by missiles. According to the Telegraph, the audio recording shows that Mojtaba Khamenei was among the targets in the same strike that killed his father, the late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, along with other senior figures in the Islamic Republic leadership on the morning the current war against Iran began, February 28. Israel bombed the location at 9:32 a.m. Iran time, while Mojtaba had stepped outside “to do something" just moments earlier.
The recording features Mozaher Hosseini, head of protocol in Ali Khamenei’s office, addressing senior clerics and commanders in the Revolutionary Guards. According to the newspaper, its reporters independently verified the recording. In it, Hosseini says that Mojtaba Khamenei suffered a leg injury, while his wife, son, and brother-in-law were killed. He also states that the body of Mohammad Shirazi, head of Khamenei’s military office, was “shattered to pieces," with only a few kilograms of tissue remaining for identification.
Hosseini adds in the recording: “It was God’s will that Mojtaba would go outside to do something and then return. He was outside and just climbing the stairs when the missile hit the building. His wife, Mrs. Hedad, was killed instantly."
Since the war began, Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen publicly. The only message from him was a written statement read on Iranian television, fueling speculation-including from U.S. President Donald Trump-that he may have been more seriously injured than Iran has acknowledged.