Iran‘s new supreme leader was lucky to survive the strike which killed his father and wounded him in both legs, according to a regime official.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, who has not been seen in public or pictured since taking over from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday, was injured in the attack on his father’s compound in Tehran on the first day of the war.
Mojtaba, described as a ‘wounded veteran’ of the war by Iranian state TV, suffered injuries to his legs and is currently in hospital.
‘He was also there and he was injured in that bombardment,’ Alireza Salarian, Iran’s ambassador to Cyprus, told the Guardian.
‘I have heard that he was injured in his legs and hand and arm… I think he is in the hospital because he is injured.’
Mojtaba’s injuries are behind his mysterious absence from the public eye, the ambassador said, adding he also wants to avoid the glare of Israel and the US.
He said: ‘I don’t think he is comfortable [in any condition] to give a speech.’
Iranian officials have claimed he remains alert and is sheltering at a highly secure location with limited communication.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was ‘lucky to survive’ the strike which killed his father and wounded him in both legs, according to a regime official
Authorities in Iran announced Mojtaba Khamenei, the late Ayatollah’s second son, as Iran’s new Supreme Leader on Sunday
The ‘vengeful’ hardline cleric has been marked for assassination by Israel after it vowed to ‘eliminate’ whoever succeeded the slain Ayatollah, having killed him, Mojtaba’s wife Zahra Haddad-Adel and one of his sons 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.
It did not elaborate on how he was injured, although his wife and father were killed in Israeli strikes.
Komiteh Emdad, a powerful government religious charity, also branded Mojtaba a ‘janbaz jang’, the Persian term for a veteran wounded in war.
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, wife and son.
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.’
The war entered its twelfth day on Wednesday with the worldwide economy reeling from the spike in oil prices as Iran attacks oil facilities in the Middle East and keeps the Strait of Hormuz shut.
A cargo ship has been attacked in the strait, a vital passageway which transports around 20 per cent of the world’s oil.
The attack from an ‘unknown projectile’, which was reported at 4.35am GMT, took place 11 nautical miles north of Oman and resulted in a fire onboard the ship.
The UKMTO, a maritime monitor, said crew evacuated the vessel.
It added: ‘Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO while authorities continue to investigate.’
No group or military has yet claimed responsibility.
The maritime body also said it had received a report of a separate incident off the UAE coast, with the master of a container vessel reporting it sustained damage from a suspected but unknown projectile.
The attack came shortly after American forces destroyed 16 Iranian minelaying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz.
The White House had earlier warned Iran will be hit ‘at a level never seen before’ if they place mines on the Strait of Hormuz amid concerns the regime could target the key oil waterway.
‘US forces eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, March 10, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz,’ the US Central Command announced on X, with an accompanying video showing some of the strikes.
