Iran’s new supreme leader was injured in legs on 1st day of war – report

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was wounded in his legs on the opening day of US-Israeli strikes on Iran, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing Israeli and Iranian officials.

Khamenei, 56, was announced on Sunday as the successor to his father, Ali Khamenei, the longtime supreme leader who was killed in the opening day of the war.

The Times report said the younger Khamenei was wounded, including in his legs, on that day as well, which may be one reason he has yet to appear in public or on video.

He had still issued no statement or appeared in public by Wednesday morning, over 48 hours after his selection.

Sources told the Times that in addition to his injuries, there was concern Khamenei could be targeted if he were to issue any public communication.

Previous reports had indicated that Mojtaba Khamenei was injured in the war, including state media reports describing him as “janbaz,” or wounded by the enemy.

It was unclear whether Khamenei’s injuries precluded him from running the country.

The son of the Iranian president said Wednesday that Mojtaba Khamenei was “safe and sound,” without denying the supreme leader was injured.

“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,” said Yousef Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, in a post on his Telegram channel.

Though an influential backroom operator for decades spent running his father’s office, Mojtaba Khamenei remains an obscure figure to many Iranians.

Senior Iranian sources said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forced through his nomination, seeing him as a more pliant version of his father who would back their hardline policies, bludgeoning aside the concerns of pragmatists.

Already very powerful, the IRGC has gained yet greater sway since the war began and quickly overcame the misgivings of senior political and clerical figures whose opposition to the choice delayed the announcement by hours, the sources said.

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that any leader appointed by the Iranian regime would be an “unequivocal target for elimination.”

“Any leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan to destroy Israel, threaten the US and the free world and the countries of the region, and oppress the Iranian people, will be an unequivocal target for elimination,” Katz said in a statement.

“It does not matter what his name is or where he hides,” he said.