Iran‘s new supreme leader was wounded in both legs on the day his father was killed, Israel claims, as it threatens to take him out.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, who has not been seen in public or pictured since taking over from his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday, was described as a ‘wounded veteran’ of the war by Iranian state TV.
Mojtaba suffered wounds in his legs on the opening day of the conflict, according to Israeli and Iranian officials cited in the New York Times.
His injuries could be behind his mysterious absence from the public eye, the report claims, although others suggest he wants to avoid the glare of Israel and the US.
The Iranian officials claim he remains alert and is sheltering at a highly secure location with limited communication.
The ‘vengeful’ hardline cleric has been marked for assassination by Israel after it vowed to ‘eliminate’ whoever succeeded the slain Ayatollah, having killed him and Mojtaba’s wife Zahra Haddad-Adel in strikes on Tehran on the first day of the war.
Donald Trump also ramped up his threats against the supreme leader, claiming he won’t be able to ‘live in peace’ and warning Iran to brace for ‘death, fire and fury.’
In one report on Mojtaba’s ascension to supreme leader on Iranian state TV, it refers to him as being wounded in the war.
The anchor describes him as ‘janbaz’, or wounded by the enemy, in the ‘Ramadan war,’ which is how media in Iran refer to the current conflict.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is ‘safe and sound’ despite reports he was injured in airstrikes on the first day of the war
Authorities in Iran announced Mojtaba Khamenei, the late Ayatollah’s second son, as Iran’s new Supreme Leader on Sunday
It did not elaborate on how he was injured, although his wife and father were killed in Israeli strikes.
But the supreme leader is ‘safe and sound’ according to Yousef Pezeshkian, son of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian
On Wednesday, Mr Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, said: ‘I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound’.
Mojtaba is viewed as even more extreme than his tyrannical father and was confirmed as the regime’s leader on Sunday after being selected by an 88-person assembly.
He has close links to the brutal Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and has been described as ‘vengeful’ and likely to seek revenge on the US or even ordinary Iranians following the death of his father and wife.
The Ayatollah was said to be opposed to his ascension to Supreme Leader because hereditary rule would resemble the US-backed Shah monarchy which was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
But thousands of Iranians gathered in major squares and streets across the country on Monday to ‘pledge allegiance’.
Thousands took part in a rally at Tehran’s Enghelab Square, chanting ‘Death to America, death to Israel’ and ‘God is greatest’.
Mr Trump said Mojtaba’s appointment is ‘going to lead to just more of the same’.
Thousands took part in a rally at Tehran’s Enghelab Square, chanting ‘Death to America, death to Israel’ and ‘God is greatest’.
While the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a picture of Mojtaba and his father with blood on their hands, captioned ‘the face may slightly change, the terror regime does not. Mojtaba Khamenei inherits his father’s legacy of repression and bloodshed.’
Parham Ghobadi, from BBC’s Persian service, claimed he ‘has taken the most dangerous job in the world because the Americans and Israelis have vowed to target the next leader, saying the next leader of Iran is going to be a legitimate target for assassination.’
He added: ‘There have been rumours around him that he is going to be the next leader since the protests in 2009, people were chanting in the streets “Mojtaba we hope you die. You’ll never become the next leader”.
‘So the rumours were there for decades that he’d be the next leader… But overall he’s a shadow.
‘Now the person who has never been officially in charge has suddenly consumed power and become the next leader of Iran at such a critical time.’
The Israeli military has already warned it will ‘pursue every successor’ of Ali Khamenei.
In a post on X in Farsi, the IDF said: ‘After neutralizing the tyrant Khamenei, the terrorist regime of Iran is attempting to rebuild itself and select a new leader.
We want to tell you that the hand of the State of Israel will continue to pursue every successor and every person who seeks to appoint a successor.’
