Latest message purportedly from Iran's new supreme leader thanks Iraq for war support

Message is the third written statement attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei since his appointment as he remains out of public eye, fueling speculation about his health and whereabouts

Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has, in a written message, thanked the people of Iraq for their support in the Islamic Republic’s war against the United States and Israel, Iranian media said on Sunday.

Khamenei is the son of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike at the start of the war on February 28. The younger Khamenei has yet to appear in public after being named Iran’s leader earlier this month, and even his voice has not been heard. Instead, written statements attributed to him have been carried by state media.

His failure to appear in person has led to intense speculation over his condition and whereabouts, as well as to what extent he is in control of the Iranian government and military. State television and some Iranian officials have indicated he is recovering from wounds sustained in an airstrike. The nature and severity of those wounds is unclear.

In the message attributed to him, Khamenei “expressed his appreciation to the supreme religious authority (in Iraq) and the people of Iraq for their clear stance against aggression against Iran and their support for our country,” Iran’s ISNA news agency said, referring to the Iraq-based Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, one of the most revered figures in Shia Islam.

The message was delivered following a meeting between the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a Shia party, and the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, it said.

No further details were given on how the message was transmitted.

Senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, March, 13, 2019. (Office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, via AP)

Since being named, Khamenei has released a first statement as supreme leader and another message for the Persian New Year, Nowruz.

Neither statement featured video or audio of the supreme leader. They were read out on television by another speaker, and defiantly predicted victory in the war.

State media regularly publish images of Mojtaba Khamenei but without giving any indication that they are new. He also has his own official Telegram and X accounts.

Iraqi Muslim women wave Iranian flags and hold portraits of Iran’s late Ieader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during the annual rally for Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, in support of Palestinians, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP/Hadi Mizban)

US President Donald Trump last week said Washington was dealing with a “top person” in talks with Iran but made clear it was not the supreme leader.

“We have not heard from the son… We don’t know if he is living,” said Trump.

Khamenei is “wounded, isolated and not responding to messages being relayed to him,” American and Israeli security officials told The Washington Post last week.

Protesters wave Iranian flags and hold a portrait of the late Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to support his selection as the new Iran’s Supreme Leader, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP/Hadi Mizban)

According to Israeli officials, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and some clerics have tightened their control over Iran.

The Axios news site reported on March 21 that the US Central Intelligence Agency, Israel’s Mossad and other intelligence bodies were working to detect traces of Khamenei as he has remained unseen.

Khamenei is the third supreme leader of Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, succeeding his father and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the revolution and died in 1989.

Times of Israel staff and Lazar Berman contributed to this report.