Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in the US-Israeli airstrikes which killed his father.
The 56-year-old assumed the top position after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the initial strikes on Iran, but has not been seen in public since.
Mojtaba Khamenei had been lightly wounded in the strikes but continued to operate, an Iranian official told Reuters.
The new supreme leader has long been a secretive figure within Iran and has not given any public statement since being appointed by an assembly of Iranian clerics on Sunday.
Mr Khamenei lost his father, mother, wife and other relatives during the Israeli airstrike on 28 February.
People hold placards with an image of Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran. Pic: WANNA/Reuters
Speculation has been mounting about the health of the new supreme leader, with Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, referring to reports that he had been injured.
In a post on Telegram, he said: “I heard news about Mr Mojtaba being injured. I asked friends who were in contact. They said, thank God, he is healthy and there is no problem.”
Mojtaba Khamenei. Pic: Reuters
A state television anchor also appeared to confirm rumours that Mr Khamenei had been hurt, describing him as a “janbaz” or “wounded veteran” of the Ramadan War, the name Iran has given to the conflict.
‘Target for elimination’
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) backed the relative unknown as the new supreme leader, viewing him as a more pliant version of his father, who would support their hardline stance.
It’s likely the younger Khamenei has sought to keep a low profile due to the risk of further US-Israeli strikes.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said last week that any leader appointed by the current Iranian leadership would “be an unequivocal target for elimination”.
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Mojtaba Khamenei is the second-oldest son of the late supreme leader, and a hard-line conservative who served in the Habib battalion of the IRGC during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, allowing him to build support within its ranks.
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He has also been linked to the violent suppression of protests in Iran.
Although he studied in the holy city of Qom, he was only a mid-ranking cleric, not a senior ayatollah like his father.
Mojtaba Khamenei, alongside his father. Pic: Reuters
He bears a strong resemblance to his father, and wears the black turban of a sayyed, indicating his family traces its lineage back to the Prophet Mohammad.
By allowing Mr Khamenei to inherit the role, the assembly of experts has, in effect, created a dynasty, a move that defies the tradition of selecting the next supreme leader on credentials alone.
US President Donald Trump had previously branded the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader as “unacceptable”.
“We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” he said.
