There are several media reports that the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is said to be in a coma after being critically wounded in an air strike.Sources told The Sun that Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, the second son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, lost at least one leg and suffered serious stomach or liver damage. It was unclear whether he was injured on the same day his 86-year-old father died, February 28, but he was not directing the strategy currently sparking energy market turmoil.Iranian state TV broadcast what it claimed to be his first statement since coming into power in an attempt to cover up his condition. The statement, read out by a news anchor, said Iran would not hesitate to “avenge the blood of Iranians” who had been killed, and vowed to continue attacks on Dubai and block off the vital Strait of Hormuz.A Sun source in Tehran said he smuggled out details about Mojtaba Khamenei’s condition, treatment, location and security. The source said he dodged Iran’s near total internet blackout to send messages to an exiled dissident based in London.
The source said Mojtaba Khamenei was under intensive care at the Sina University Hospital in Tehran’s historic quarter after a section of the building was sealed off and surrounded by massive security. He said he was not a medic but knew members of the hospital’s trauma team who told him Mojtaba was in “very serious” condition under the care of Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi.The Sun source said in his message: “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.”Meanwhile, Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and a government adviser, said that the new supreme leader is “safe and sound”. Yousef said he had sought confirmation after hearing rumours that Khamenei had been hurt in the fighting.In a post on Telegram on Wednesday, he wrote: “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.”Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was reported to have been assassinated by US-Israeli forces as Tehran was hit by Donald Trump’s Operation Epic Fury. The report said he put the nation’s war machine on autopilot before he was wiped out in the first action of Operation Epic Fury. His son Mojtaba, 56, succeeded him five days ago but had not given a public speech and stayed silent amid rumours he was already dead.
