Iran’s supreme leader hiding in secret location, communicates via network of messengers — CBS

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is hiding in a secret location and communicates via an elaborate network of messengers, American officials tell CBS News, citing US intelligence.

The precautionary measures, meant to keep Israel from assassinating Khamenei, are causing delays in US-Iran talks to end the war, the report says. It adds that even senior Iranian officials cannot contact Khamenei directly.

“This is why you see people saying things like, ‘The supreme leader has agreed to the framework,’ or ‘We’re waiting to hear back on the final deal points.’ Every piece of information he receives is dated and there’s a lot of latency to his responses,” one official tells the network.

Khamenei’s father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, was killed on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran. Mojtaba, who was also injured in the US-Israeli strikes, was appointed to succeed his father in March but has not been publicly seen or heard since then.

He is not the only senior Iranian official who has gone underground, according to the CBS report. The report says the leaders spend weeks in bunkers and try to avoid communicating with each other.

“Watching them try to figure out how to talk to each other is almost like watching a sitcom. They are completely exasperated,” one official says.