'A bad start' for Iran's new Supreme Leader? Trump confirms CIA told him Mojtaba Khamenei is gay | Watch Viral video
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'A bad start' for Iran's new Supreme Leader? Trump confirms CIA told him Mojtaba Khamenei is gay | Watch Viral video")
Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Photograph: (AFP)
Is Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei gay? US President Donald Trump claims that US intelligence briefed him about the Ayatollah's sexuality. What exactly did the POTUS reveal? Scroll down to read more.
US President Donald Trump has confirmed receiving shocking intelligence briefings regarding the personal life of Iran's newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. Speaking during a Fox News interview on Thursday (Mar 26), Trump confirmed that he was told that the new Ayatollah was gay and noted that such claims make for "a bad start" in a theocratic country known for its severe penalties against the LGBTQ+ community. Notably, Trump previously suggested that the new Ayatollah may be dead. In a statement earlier this week, the POTUS said the junior Khamenei was “unavailable,” adding that “Nobody knows what happened to him. I can say they haven’t seen him there either. Something is going on with him.”
Trump confirms Mojtaba Khamenei is gay
Trump, during an interview on Thursday, confirmed that US intelligence officials briefed him that Iran's newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, may be gay, adding, with characteristic bluntness, that it makes for "a bad start" in a country that executes gay people. While appearing on a Fox News interview, the POTUS was asked point-blank: "Did the CIA tell you that Ayatollah Jr. is gay?" While appearing on a Fox News interview, the POTUS was asked point-blank: "Did the CIA tell you that Ayatollah Jr. is gay?"
"They did say that," Trump replied. "But I don't know if it was only them. I think a lot of people are saying that, which puts (him) off to a bad start in that particular country."
Watch what he said here:
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What did the CIA actually find?
According to a New York Post report from last week, citing two US intelligence officials and a source close to the White House, Trump and his senior advisers reportedly burst out laughing when the information came up during a private briefing. The intelligence suggests Mojtaba, 56, may have had a years-long sexual relationship with his male tutor. One official described the sourcing as "derived from one of the most protected sources that the government has." A separate source alleged Mojtaba made "aggressive" sexual advances toward male caregivers while recovering, and being in a possibly heavily medicated state, from injuries sustained in airstrikes on February 28.
The 2008 WikiLeaks Angle: Medical Trips to London and a Delayed Succession
There's a WikiLeaks angle too. A classified US diplomatic cable from 2008 described Mojtaba receiving treatment in the UK for impotence, making multiple extended visits to Wellington and Cromwell Hospitals in London. The cable noted that Mojtaba married "relatively late in life" and needed a fourth trip abroad before his wife became pregnant.
"Mojtaba was expected by his family to produce children quickly, but needed a fourth visit to the UK for medical treatment; after a stay of two months, his wife became pregnant," said the leaked file. His wife Zahra and their teenage son Mohammad Bagher were reportedly killed in the same airstrike that took his father. He has two other children.
The New York Post first broke the story on March 16, reporting that the CIA believed the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had long harboured doubts about his son's suitability as successor — partly because of his sexuality. "His father and others suspected he was gay, and that was something that people were spreading to try to stop his ascension," a source told The Post. Mojtaba was nonetheless selected to replace his father as Supreme Leader on March 8, despite those reservations.
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.
