Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is recovering from severe and disfiguring injuries sustained in the airstrike that killed his father at the outset of the ongoing war, according to multiple accounts, even as conflicting reports continue to cast doubt over his condition and ability to govern.
Three individuals familiar with his inner circle told Reuters that the 56-year-old cleric suffered significant facial injuries that left him disfigured, along with serious wounds to one or both legs, during the February 28 strike on the supreme leader’s compound in central Tehran. The attack also killed his father, Ali Khamenei, who had ruled Iran since 1989, as well as several members of Mojtaba’s family, including his wife and close relatives.
