'Scared and disfigured': US claims Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei injured in 'chaotic' strike
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Scared and disfigured': US claims Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei injured in 'chaotic' strike")
Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Photograph: (AFP)
The US government has claimed that Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is "likely disfigured" and currently in hiding. US Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth noted that Khamenei’s recent address was a text-only statement with no audio or video proof of life.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Iranian Supreme Leader, was injured in a "chaotic environment" and is "likely disfigured", said the United States on Friday (Mar 13). However, speaking to the press, US Vice President JD Vance confessed that it was "not totally clear" if the new Ayatollah was injured by a US strike. Meanwhile, America's Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, while questioning Ali Khamenei's son's ability to rule Iran, said that Mojtaba was "wounded and likely disfigured". This comes just two days after Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of President Masoud Pezeshkian, confirmed that the newly appointed Supreme Leader had sustained injuries in the Iran war, but insisted that he was "safe and sound". Here's all we know about Mojtaba Khamenei's condition.
Iranian Supreme Leader "likely disfigured"?
During a press briefing on Friday, US Defense Secretary noted that a statement released by Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday had "no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement."
This, he said, was because the "new so-called, not so supreme, leader is wounded and likely disfigured." Hegseth said Khamenei lacks "legitimacy" and was running scared.
“He put out a statement yesterday. A weak one, actually, but there was no voice, and there was no video. It was a written statement,” said Hegseth. "Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father — dead. He's scared, he's injured, he's on the run and he lacks legitimacy," he added.
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How was Mojtaba Khamenei injured?
According to US VP Vance, Iran's Supreme Leader had been injured in a "chaotic environment," but it remains unclear whether the wounds were caused by a US or an Israeli airstrike.
"It's not totally clear, actually," Vance told reporters. "You have the Israelis striking, you have obviously the United States striking a number of targets. So we know that he's hurt. We don't know exactly how bad, but we know that he's hurt."
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.
