Iran‘s paranoid new Supreme Leader is operating in hiding over fears of being assassinated while being treated for severe facial burns and a damaged leg, a new report has claimed.
Mojtaba Khamenei has been in hiding since American and Israeli forces bombed his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound on February 28.
Since then, access to him has become extremely restricted, according to a report by The New York Times published Thursday.
Senior commanders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and high-ranking government officials have reportedly avoided visiting him out of fear that Israeli intelligence could track their movements and use them to locate and target him.
Despite the severity of his injuries, four senior Iranian officials familiar with his condition said he remains mentally sharp and actively engaged.
Ali Khamenei’s successor was gravely wounded in the strike, with his face and lips burned so severely he has difficulty speaking. He will need plastic surgery, officials have said.
In addition, one of his legs has undergone three operations, and he is now awaiting a prosthetic. He also required surgery on one hand and is gradually regaining function.
Mojtaba has not released any video or audio messages since the attack because he does not want to appear vulnerable or sound weak, sources have said.
Mojtaba Khamenei has been in hiding since American and Israeli forces bombed his father
Instead, he has communicated through written statements that have been published online and broadcast on state television.
Communication with him is tightly controlled and relies on a physical courier network, with handwritten messages sealed in envelopes and passed along a chain of trusted individuals who travel by car and motorcycle across highways and back roads until they reach his location.
His responses are then delivered back through the same method.
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, who is also a heart surgeon, has reportedly been personally involved in his treatment, along with Iran’s health minister.
The reports come as earlier today, US President Donald Trump claimed that Iran has ‘no idea who their leader is’ at this moment.
Speaking on MS Now on Thursday, Trump said: ‘They’re all messed up. They have no idea who their leader is. You know, we took out, really, three levels of leaders. And everybody that was even close behind him.’
‘So they have a hard time figuring out who the hell can speak for the country. They just don’t know.’
With a severely injured Mojtaba now in hiding, a committee of top officials has reportedly taken charge
At the center of power now is a politburo-like body known as the Supreme National Security Council, which includes Iran’s top civilian and military officials.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the parliament speaker and a veteran insider with strong contacts on all sides, has emerged as its face and the chief negotiator with the US as they attempt to settle on an agreement over the Strait of Hormuz.
Qalibaf is a former general in the Guard and national police chief and kept close to the Guard throughout his long political career.
Hard-liner members include the Guard’s new chief commander, Ahmad Vahidi, and the council’s new secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, also a commander in the Guard.
The council now faces potentially divisive questions over how far to go to reach a deal with the US, which is demanding Iran make major concessions aimed at ensuring it is never able to develop a nuclear weapon.
Meanwhile, an escalating standoff has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz where roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil flows.
Smoke and fire rise from the site of US-Israeli airstrikes in Tehran
Earlier this week, Trump extended his ceasefire with Iran for the fourth time without setting a deadline but while still maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports.
The president said the extension was warranted due to Tehran’s government being ‘seriously fractured.’
Trump said the ceasefire would continue ‘until such time as’ Iran’s leaders and representatives submit a ‘unified proposal’ to end the war.
Senior officials have insisted they can hold out for assurances that Iran won’t be attacked again – even risking the war reigniting – because they believe Iran can endure the pain longer than the United States and its allies.
Council members have projected confidence that Iran holds the upper hand now, particularly because its grip on the Strait of Hormuz enables it to drive up fuel prices, thus threatening the global economy and exerting political pressure on President Donald Trump back home.
Meanwhile, regardless of the Supreme Leader’s injuries, experts say it is unlikely the new and inexperienced ruler would be able to command the overarching power wielded by his father.
Alex Vatanka, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said last week that while he is seen to represent continuity, it could take years for him to build up the same level of automatic authority.
‘Mojtaba will be one voice but it will not be the decisive one,’ he said.
‘He needs to prove himself as the credible, powerful, overriding voice. The regime as a whole has to make a decision in terms of where they are going to go.’
In Iran’s theocratic system, ultimate power is meant to be wielded by the supreme leader, a Shi’ite Muslim cleric appointed by an assembly of 88 ayatollahs.
The leader oversees the elected president while directly commanding authorities including the Revolutionary Guards, a powerful political and military force.
