Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is seriously disfigured after suffering leg and facial injuries as a result of joint US-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran in February, Reuters reported on Saturday.
Khamenei is recovering from injuries sustained in the February 28 airstrikes that killed his father, former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei. He has not been seen in public since his admission to hospital.
Despite the injuries, Khamenei reportedly remains “mentally sharp,” Reuters reported, citing a trio of anonymous sources within his inner circle. The new supreme leader is in contact with the Iranian delegation in Pakistan for peace talks with a US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance.
The Reuters report confirms an earlier statement by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who told reporters on March 13 that Khamenei was “probably disfigured.”
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Vice President J.D. Vance walks with Pakistani Armed Forces Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Natalie A. Baker and Interior Secretary Mohsin Raza Naqvi after arriving for talks with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 11, 2026. (Jacquelyn Martin/Reuters)
He then repeated this claim a press conference on Thursday while outlining the US military’s achievements in Iran.
“Their top leadership was systematically eliminated, their previous Iranian Supreme Leader dead, the Supreme Secretary of the National Security Council dead, the Advisor to the Supreme Leader Office dead, the Chief of the Military Office of the Supreme Leader dead, the Minister of Defense no longer with us, the Commander of the IRGC dead, the Commander of the General Staff of the Armed Forces dead, the Minister of Intelligence dead, the Naval Commander of the IRGC is no longer here, the Chief of Intelligence of the IRGC dead,” it summed up. Hegseth op.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to members of the media during a press conference at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“I’ve skipped a few, and I could go on, including the new – so-called new supreme leader, injured and disfigured. This new regime was out of options and out of time, so they made a deal.”
NEW Iranian SUPREME LEADER ‘PROBABLY REJECTED’, SAYS HEGSETH
Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader and second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran, on October 13, 2024. (Hamed Jafarnejad/ISNA/WANA/Reuters)
Despite his weakened condition, Khamenei vowed to resist in a defiant written statement on Thursday.
“Iran does not seek war, but will not forfeit its rights and considers all resistance fronts as a united entity,” the statement said.
Hegseth dismissed the statement as “weak” during his press conference in March.
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“It was a written statement. Iran has a lot of cameras and a lot of voice recorders. Why a written statement?” Hegseth asked. ‘I think you know why. His father is dead. He’s scared, he’s hurt, he’s on the run and he has no legitimacy. It’s a mess for them. Who’s in charge? Iran may not even know.”
Sources reportedly told Reuters that Khamenei could enter the public spotlight within a month or two, but only if “his health and security situation allow it.
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While many publicly wonder where and when we will see the supreme leader again, Iranian hardliners are emphasizing the importance of him keeping a low profile.
“Why would he appear in public? To become a target for these criminals?” an Iranian militiaman asked Reuters in a text message.
