Mojtaba Khamenei makes first appearance at Iran war command centre with Israel’s Dimona nuclear site map? FACT-CHECKING viral claims

A new video of Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has surfaced on Monday (Apr 6) amid constant threats by US President Donald Trump. In the video, Mojtaba is seen walking towards Iran's war command centre. It must be noted that the new Supreme Leader of Iran has not been seen in public since his appointment. Several rumours spread about his whereabouts, including that he is severely wounded, may have lost a leg, and may have travelled to Russia for treatment. However, Iran has maintained that he is fine. Reports also suggested that Iran's Revolutionary Guards have taken over and Mojtaba is no longer commanding the actions. Amid this, the new video may be an attempt to signal Mojtaba's dominance - if only it were true. Here's the truth about the video

In the video, as Mojtaba Khamenei enters the command centre room, a large picture on the screen shows coordinates and location of Israel's Dimona nuclear plant. The Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, widely known as the Dimona nuclear site, is situated in Israel’s southern Negev Desert. Thus, it made a subtle threat of hitting the Dimona site in case of any attack by the US. The video ends with a message: ‘News is yet to come’. In March, Iranian missile struck site near Dimona nuclear plant, prompting the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to issue an alert. Though there was no indication of damage to the nuclear research centre, it urged for “maximum military restraint” in the vicinity of nuclear facilities.

HERE'S THE VIDEO

A Twitter handle called 'GBX_Press' was the first one to share the video with a caption stating that Iran has released it. Even as it went viral on X with multiple handles sharing it, no verified Iranian official or state media account (IRIB, IRGC channels, Khamenei.ir, etc.) posted or confirmed it. Though, many news handles ran the video as "first video of Mojtaba Khamenei," they quickly labeled it as AI-generated propaganda. Grok said that video is 100 per cent AI generated.

Amid widespread rumours about the well-being of Iran's new Supreme Leader, Russia on Mar 31 said that Mojtaba Khamenei is in Iran, quashing previous reports of him being treated in Russia. Russia’s ambassador to Iran Alexey Dedov said, “As the Iranian leadership has stated repeatedly, the new leader is in Iran, but for obvious reasons, he is refraining from appearing in public.” Though he did not elaborate further, his statement hints at a strategic decision by the Iranian government to keep the new Supreme Leader's whereabouts under wraps.

Even after dangerous expletive-filled threats by the US president, Mojtaba Khamenei has not responded. His last statement was on Apr 1 when in a series of posts on X he said that Iran will continue to follow the path of its martyred leaders and vowed to continue resistance against what he called the ‘Zionist-US’ enemy while hailing the sacrifice and martyrdom of senior military figures in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah as the war in West Asia entered its second month. On Mar 29, he thanked the Iraqi people and religious leadership for their support of Iran “in the face of aggression." On Mar 16, he issued a statement and said that all those previously appointed to government positions by his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will remain in their posts and should “continue to carry on with their work.” In his first statement after succeeding his father as country's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba said that Iran will not hesitate to take revenge for the crimes committed by the enemy and mentioned the Minab school massacre. He warned the Gulf countries to close the American bases.

US has maintained that Mojtaba Khamenei is injured and wounded badly in Israeli-US joint striked that killed his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump has cast his doubts about his existence quiestion if anyone has seen him. He said that Mojtaba might be dead, and if not, he's badly injured. no where to be seen. More than three weeks have passed since his appointment as the supreme leader, but Khamenei has still not been seen in public, thus paving way for rumours surrounding his well being. On Day 21, Iran's state broadcaster IRIB released the first-ever footage of the new Supreme Leader, showing him teaching religious sciences to pupils. But the date of the footage was not specified.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, US, Gulf nations and non-state actors like Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Islamic State, and others. Claims and counterclaims, disinformation and misinformation are being made online and offline. Given this context, WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos and videos.