Mojtaba Khamenei Dead Or Alive? Check Donald Trump’s Big Claim On Iranian Supreme Leader’s Whereabouts

Washington: Donald Trump said on Thursday that he believes Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is likely alive but “damaged,” amid growing uncertainty about the Iranian leader’s condition and whereabouts during the ongoing war involving the United States, Israel and Iran.

Speaking in an interview on Fox News’ The Brian Kilmeade Show, Trump said he believed Khamenei had survived but may have been injured.

“I think he probably is (alive). I think he is damaged, but I think he’s probably alive in some form,” Trump reportedly said in the interview.

Mojtaba Khamenei has not made a public appearance since he was selected as Iran’s new supreme leader on Sunday by a clerical assembly following the killing of his father, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war between the United States, Israel and Iran.  Also killed were the younger Khamenei's wife, Zahra Haddad Adel, who came from a family long associated with the country's theocracy.

Iranian state television earlier described the new leader as “war-wounded,” while an Iranian official told Reuters that he had been lightly injured but remained in charge.

Khamenei’s first message since assuming the role was delivered through a statement read by a news presenter on Iranian state television on Thursday. In the message, he vowed that Iran would continue its “effective defence” and warned that the country could maintain the closure of the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. He also called on neighbouring countries hosting U.S. military bases to shut them down, warning that Iran could target those facilities if the conflict continues.

“They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment,” Trump had said earlier. “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me," Trump added. "We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.” Born in 1969 in the city of Mashhad, some 10 years before the 1979 Islamic Revolution that would sweep Iran, Khamenei grew up as his father agitated against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.  In his first reaction following the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran's new Supreme Leader, Trump has said he is “disappointed” that Iran appointed him as the new leader.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference in Florida, Trump said Iran’s choice of leader was unlikely to bring any meaningful change to the country’s policies. He remarked that the appointment could lead to “more of the same problems” in relations between Tehran and the international community.

The rapidly escalating West Asia war has already pulled the surrounding countries into deep turmoil and uncertainty as explosions were heard repeatedly in Doha, Bahrain, UAE, among others. The war which was triggered after the US and Israel jointly launched airstrikes into the Iranian territory on February 28, entered its day 14 on Friday. US and Israel targeted its top leadership, military bases and energy facilities. It led to the death of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei bringing a nearly 40-year era to an abrupt closure, and altering the geopolitical situation in the region.

The campaign has since expanded into a broader regional confrontation, with both sides exchanging strikes across multiple locations. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the military operation could end soon, describing the intervention as a “short-term excursion” aimed at eliminating regional threats.

(With Agency Inputs)

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