Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is reportedly wounded, isolated, and not responding to messages being relayed to him, according to a report by The Washington Post citing Israeli and US security officials.
According to the reports, the new leader is not responding to communications sent to him, but despite his condition, the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and senior clerics who remain at the top have apparently managed to reestablish their grip on the country.
In Israel, officials are trying to determine whether Iran’s system is currently being run by the leader himself or merely in his name.
Meanwhile, publications associated with the Iranian opposition paint a far bleaker picture. According to these sources, Khamenei was critically wounded, required the amputation of a leg, and suffered severe neurological complications following a brain injury.
These claims are based on reports that for more than ten days Khamenei floated in semiconsciousness and was on a ventilator in Tehran hospitals.
At present, the Iranian regime has not provided clear information or visual documentation regarding his condition and is maintaining complete ambiguity. Rumors of his death are increasingly spreading on social media, but there has been no official confirmation.
At the same time, amid the uncertainty surrounding his current condition, a leaked recording obtained by the British newspaper The Telegraph reveals dramatic details about the opening strike of the war in Tehran, in which his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed. According to the report, Mojtaba himself was also a direct target of that attack.
In the recording, a senior Revolutionary Guards official can be heard saying, "The bombing began at 9:32. By the grace of Allah, Mojtaba had gone out to the garden to do something and was about to return" seconds before ballistic missiles struck the compound.