Days after Israeli media claimed that Iran’s Supreme Leader was in critical condition and had been rushed to a hospital, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News agency released an undated video showing Mojtaba Khamenei appearing to be in good health. The video of Mojtaba Khamenei was published for the first time by Mehr, a semi-official news agency sponsored by the government of Iran and run by the Iranian government’s Islamic Development Organisation, as an effort to negate mounting speculation over Khamenei’s health and whereabouts. Earlier on Friday, Israeli media reports had claimed that Khamenei was in an “extremely critical condition”. Channel 14, citing sources inside Iran, and an earlier report by The Jerusalem Post, quoting IranWire and sources close to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration, reported that concerns over his health were circulating within Iran’s leadership. One source cited by The Jerusalem Post had claimed, “We would not be surprised if we heard news of his martyrdom soon.” Khamenei assumed the position of Supreme Leader shortly after his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated in joint US-Israeli military strikes on February 28. Since taking office, he has not made any public appearances and has communicated exclusively through written statements.
Speculation over leadership
Reports indicate he was injured and potentially disfigured in the initial strikes that targeted his father’s compound, forcing him into hiding and compelling him to communicate with senior regime figures through a slow network of intermediaries to avoid targeting. Adding to the speculation surrounding his status, President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged in a state TV interview that direct interaction with Khamenei is currently “very difficult”. International and regional reports have repeatedly questioned his physical location and capacity. In July, Saudi news outlet al-Hadath, citing an Israeli security source, claimed that Khamenei was “not in Iran.”
Conflicting accounts on condition
Around the same time, US President Donald Trump asserted in a Fox News interview that Iran’s top military leadership had been eliminated, claiming that Khamenei was “90% gone” and incapacitated following the military campaign. Iranian state officials have previously downplayed the severity of his initial injuries, but the persistent lack of live appearances or direct public addresses continues to fuel intense regional and international speculation regarding his health and leadership stability. While Western and opposition intelligence sources have frequently suggested that he sustained severe or disfiguring injuries, leading to his total absence from live public appearances and reliance solely on written statements, Iranian state officials have offered contrasting accounts. Representatives from Iran’s Health Ministry previously characterised his initial injuries as superficial, and senior officials have maintained that he continues to provide strategic oversight and operational directives for the country.
