Iran's new supreme leader was wounded early in the war - NYT
Kyiv • UNN
Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded during a US and Israeli attack. The leader is conscious and is hiding in a protected location with limited communication.
Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was wounded early in the war, The New York Times reports, citing Iranian and Israeli officials, writes UNN.
Details
Three days after Mojtaba Khamenei was proclaimed successor to his slain father as Iran's supreme leader, he has not appeared in videos or public, nor has he made any written statements.
"One reason is the fear that any communication could reveal his whereabouts and put him in danger," said three Iranian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic in Iran.
"But another factor is that the 56-year-old Khamenei was wounded on the first day of the Israeli and US attack," they said.
Three Iranian officials said that over the past two days, high-ranking government officials informed them that "Khamenei was wounded, including in the legs, but is conscious and hiding in a well-guarded location with limited communication."
Two Israeli military officials said that "information gathered by Israel also led the defense establishment to conclude that Khamenei sustained leg injuries on February 28 – a conclusion they reached even before he was elected as the new supreme leader on Sunday."
The full circumstances and extent of Mr. Khamenei's injuries remain unclear.
His father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in Israeli airstrikes on the leadership compound in central Tehran also on February 28. The mother, wife, and son of the new supreme leader, as well as several high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Defense, also died in the attack.
One hint at Khamenei's condition came from mentions on state television and the state news agency IRNA, where he was referred to as the supreme leader, a "wounded war veteran." Also, in a statement by the influential government religious charity "Komiteh Emdad," which welcomed Khamenei, he was called "janbaz jang" – a Persian term meaning a veteran wounded in war.
On Tuesday, local Iranian media asked Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whether Khamenei had assumed his new responsibilities as the country's chief religious and political figure and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Baghaei did not answer the question directly, saying, "Those who were meant to receive the message have received it."
Khamenei remains an enigmatic figure. He rarely, if ever, made public speeches or attended public events. Iranian media began circulating a half-minute video containing only photographs of Khamenei and a brief biography.
On Friday, when it became known that Khamenei was the main contender for the succession, Israeli fighter jets dropped bunker-busting bombs on the remaining cabinet buildings and the supreme leader's residential complex, destroying them completely, as satellite images showed, the publication writes.
Iranian officials said they believed Khamenei was the target of the strikes, but he was not there. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a social media post that any successor to Ayatollah Khamenei would be a target. US President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with Khamenei's ascent but declined to comment on whether the US planned to try to kill him.
In Iran, Khamenei may be physically out of public sight, but his face is already on large banners erected around the capital Tehran and on a giant mural depicting his late father handing him the flag of Iran, the publication notes.
Khamenei, who has close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has remained an influential player in the shadows for years, the publication writes. He coordinated security and military affairs in his father's office. However, little is known about his personality or plans for governing Iran, apart from his close ties to the IRGC and the radical faction.
Government supporters, meanwhile, held "oath of allegiance" ceremonies for Khamenei in city squares across the country, waving flags and holding his photographs.