Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, unseen and unheard from since becoming Iran’s supreme leader in March, is believed to have been so badly wounded in the strike that killed his father that he now struggles to speak, will require plastic surgery, and is awaiting a prosthetic leg.
Mojtaba Khamenei succeeded his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after the elder Khamenei, his wife, and son were killed Feb. 28 on the opening day of the Iran conflict, when U.S. and Israeli forces bombed the family compound in Tehran.
Mojtaba Khamenei lived at the compound, and access to him has been extremely limited, The New York Times reported Thursday.
He is now surrounded mostly by a team of doctors and medical staff treating injuries sustained in the airstrikes at an undisclosed location.
Senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and top government officials have avoided visiting him, fearing Israel could track them and target him, the Times reported.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, and the country’s health minister have been involved in his care.
Four senior Iranian officials familiar with his condition told the Times he remains mentally sharp and engaged.
One leg has undergone three operations and is expected to be replaced with a prosthetic. He also had surgery on one hand and is slowly regaining function.
His face and lips were severely burned, making it difficult for him to speak, and he is expected to require plastic surgery, the officials said.
The younger Khamenei has not recorded a video or audio message because he does not want to appear vulnerable or sound weak in his first public address, the officials said. He has instead issued written statements posted online and read on state television.
Messages to him are handwritten, sealed in envelopes, and relayed through a chain of couriers traveling highways and back roads by car and motorcycle until they reach his hideout. His responses are delivered the same way.
The secrecy surrounding his condition and communication has raised questions about who is making decisions in Tehran. President Donald Trump said Thursday on Truth Social that "Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is," citing divisions between "hardliners" and "moderates."
"Mojtaba is not yet in full command or control," Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa at Chatham House, told the Times. "There is, perhaps, deference to him.
"He signs off or he is part of the decision-making structure in a formal way. But he is presented with fait accompli presentations right now."
Instead, a battle-hardened group of IRGC commanders and their allies are acting as the key decision-makers on security, war, and diplomacy, according to the Times.
"Mojtaba is managing the country as though he is the director of the board," Abdolreza Davari, a former adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who knows Mojtaba Khamenei, told the Times. "He relies heavily on the advice and guidance of the board members, and they collectively make all the decisions. The generals are the board members."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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