Mojtaba Khamenei's voice heard for first time in undated video released by Iran

Iran has released a rare, undated video of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in which his voice is heard for the first time. This comes as Iran-US war enters a new phase with the US launching a economic strike on Tehran. In the video, the Supreme Leader is presiding over a religious academic study session. The video shows the 56-year-old leader listening as a student presents a thesis before offering his assessment of the work. The video has been shared by Iran's Fars news agency.

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Mojtaba Khamenei assumed the position of Supreme Leader after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in joint US-Israeli military strikes on February 28. Since assuming the role, Mojtaba has not made any public appearances, communicating exclusively through written statements. In the first week of August, speculation regarding his well being intensified after Israel's Channel 14, citing sources inside Iran, and a report by The Jerusalem Post, quoting IranWire and sources close to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's administration, flagged grave concerns over his health, claiming that it wouldn't be a surprise “if the news of his martyrdom arrives.” The Iran International claimed that Pezeshkian reportedly said he was taken to a secret location in Tehran and allowed only a brief meeting in a dark, tinted-window vehicle with a man presented as Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

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However, on X, Pezeshkian said he had spent two and a half hours with the country's new leader in a “cordial atmosphere.” "Someone who can sit and discuss for seven to eight hours cannot have any health problems," the President said, noting that he had held a "very good" meeting. Soon after this, Iran released another undated video in which he was seen in good health.

The junior Khamenei did not attend his father's funeral and recent reports by CIA and Israeli media indicate that he is nowhere to be found. After he took over the top role in Iran, reports indicated that he was injured and potentially disfigured in the initial strikes that targeted his father's compound, forcing him into hiding and compelling him to communicate with senior regime figures through a slow network of intermediaries to avoid targeting.