President Donald Trump spent time on Monday speculating about the fate of Iran's new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, noting that the cleric has not appeared in public and raising questions about his current condition. Trump pointed out that no one has seen Khamenei since he was appointed to power, fueling uncertainty about what may have happened to him.
A lot of speculation is being made about the whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei. "A lot of people are saying that he's badly disfigured. They're saying that he lost his leg, one leg, and he's been hurt very badly. Other people are saying he's dead," Trump told reporters in the White House East Room.
Khamenei's Whereabouts in Doubt
This came after reports from Kuwaiti media suggested that Khamenei was flown to Moscow for emergency leg surgery. Several reports have suggested that he may have slipped into a coma after being injured in the airstrike.
Several observers have even questioned whether he might already be dead. Mojtaba Khamenei is reportedly unaware that a war is ongoing and that he has been appointed as the country's new supreme leader.
Mojtaba Khamenei's injuries were serious enough that he had to be secretly flown to Russia for surgery that was reportedly "personally offered by Putin," according to Al-Jarida. The operation to move the newly appointed Ayatollah out of Iran was said to be carried out in complete secrecy, with Khamenei allegedly boarding a Russian military aircraft to leave the country.
After arriving in Russia, he was reportedly taken to one of Vladimir Putin's presidential residences, where doctors carried out what was described as a "successful" operation.
The claims have not been independently confirmed, but the report says the information came from a "high-ranking source close to the new Iranian Supreme Leader."
The source told the outlet that Khamenei was injured during the early stages of America's Operation Epic Fury, and that treating him inside Iran was impossible because the country has been under constant attacks from the US and Israel.
It is still unclear whether Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in the same airstrikes that killed his 86-year-old father.
Another source, communicating through secret messages to an exiled dissident in London, claimed the injuries were extremely severe. The source said, "One or two of his legs have been cut off. His liver or stomach has also ruptured. He is apparently in a coma as well."
Shrouded in Mystery
The source, who does not want to be named out of fear for their safety, added that the new Supreme Leader is being treated by Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, Iran's Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, and one of the country's leading trauma surgeons.
Iranian officials have so far admitted that the new leader was hurt, but they have not shared any further details about his condition.
An Iranian official speaking from inside the war-affected country said the situation remains unclear, adding that no one really knows what has happened to Mojtaba — whether he is alive or dead, or how serious his injuries might be.
"We are all just told that he's injured. He has no control over the war because he is not here. The majority of commanders, or more correctly, all commanders, have no news about him."
Questions about Khamenei's whereabouts have grown even stronger since he released his first statement about the war on Thursday. However, he did not appear on camera, and his message was instead read out by a news anchor.
In the statement, he said Iran would not hold back from avenging the "blood of its martyrs."
