Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of eliminated longtime dictator Ali Khamenei and the country’s new “supreme leader,” was “in perfect health” on Sunday, apparently responding to a flurry of wild rumors claiming that the younger Khamenei is severely injured.
President Donald Trump launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, announcing on that day that American and Israeli military operations had eliminated the 86-year-old Ali Khamenei, leaving the country without clear leadership. A week later, Iranian officials announced that the Islamist regime’s “Assembly of Experts” had chosen Mojtaba Khamenei, who has never before held public office, as “supreme leader.”
In addition to the elder Khamenei, Operation Epic Fury has eliminated dozens of senior Iranian regime leaders, leaving unclear exactly who is running the country. Iran has a president, Masoud Pezeshkian, but the presidential office is entirely subordinate to the “supreme leader” and Pezeshkian has made only limited comments in the aftermath of the war.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public at press time since being declared “supreme leader.” After nearly a week of making no appearances or comments, Iranian state television aired a written statement, allegedly from Khamenei, on Thursday, in which he called for continued war against America and Israel and threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. Adding to the intrigue, Iranian state television aired footage of an alleged “allegiance” ceremony for Iranians to declare their loyalty to the younger Khamenei featuring not the “supreme leader,” but only a cardboard effigy.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s unexplained absence from the public eye during a critical time of war for the country has prompted a torrent of wild rumors as to his health status and levels of trust for him within what is left of the Iranian regime. In that context, Araghchi, who remains one of the most visible faces of what is left of the Iranian regime, insisted in an interview on Sunday that Khamenei was healthy and actively engaging in the work of leading the country.
“The Leader of the Revolution is in perfect health and is fully managing the situation,” Araghchi reportedly said in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. The Times of Israel reported his comments as stating that Khamenei was in “excellent health” and “in control of the situation.” The foreign minister insisted that there was nothing strange about Khamenei’s absence in the public eye, asserting, “the timing of televised messages or direct appearances before the people is his prerogative.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Araghchi insisted that Iran’s flagrant bombings of over a dozen of its neighboring countries never targeted “residential or civilian areas,” contrary to complaints from countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Azerbaijan. He conceded that some “collateral damage” may have occurred, but added, “it is possible that Israel is behind the attacks on civilian targets in Arab countries in order to destroy their relations with Iran.”
In comments on Monday, Araghchi resurfaced declaring that Iran was close to victory in defeating the United States.
“In the coming days, we will celebrate our victory in this war,” he claimed. “We have sent no messages and have not requested a ceasefire.”
Absent from the conversation regarding when the current war will end is Mojtaba Khamenei. Since the first announcement that he had been chosen to lead the countries, rumors rapidly began spreading that he was unsuitable to govern for one reason or another. The first round of rumors were fueled by Iranian state media describing Khamenei as injured in battle, suggesting that the airstrikes that had killed his father had also severely wounded him. Some rumors claimed that Khamenei had been “disfigured,” while others suggested he had suffered significant damage to, or possibly lost, a leg.
Iran’s ambassador to Cyprus, Alireza Salarian, revealed in recent remarks that he was told Mojtaba Khamenei was “injured in his legs and hand and arm.”
“I think he is in the hospital because he is injured,” he said early during the war.
Reports since have claimed that Khamenei was evacuated for medical treatment to Russia — a claim unsubstantiated by any evidence in public at press time.
As for the younger Khamenei’s governing prowess, dueling claims have surfaced that he is both more and less competent than his father. One report last week described Mojtaba as bloodthirsty and “more dangerous” than the late ayatollah, as well as “obsessed with the end of days.”
In contrast, however, CBS News reported on Sunday that American intelligence officials have reason to believe that Ali Khamenei believed that his son was “not very bright” and “unqualified,” leaving him with little confidence in his son as a leader. The report is based on anonymous “sources familiar.”
In yet another twist on Monday, the New York Post reported — again citing anonymous sources — that American intelligence officials told President Donald Trump that Mojtaba Khamenei was gay and had a “long-term sexual relationship with his childhood tutor.” This report was also not based on any verifiable evidence or on-the-record commentary.
Khamenei’s first and only message as “supreme leader” was a call to the people of Iran to support their repressive regime and a belligerent demand for “revenge.”
“A limited amount of this revenge has already taken place in practice. But until it reaches its complete extent, this case will remain open above all others,” he declared. “Certainly the lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used.”
Iranian officials almost immediately contradicted the statement.
“We are not going to close the Strait of Hormuz,” Iranian envoy to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani said on Thursday.
Trump himself has publicly dismissed Khamenei as a “lightweight” and insisted that the current conflict could only end if the Iranian regime chooses someone palatable to Washington and its ability to engage in and finance terrorism is completely eradicated. As for his health status, Trump said on Friday that he believes Khamenei is “alive in some form.”
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