Iran President says Supreme Leader ‘healthy’, days after ‘extremely critical condition’ reports
After his meeting with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Ayatollah was “completely healthy”, adding that both had held a seven-hour discussion.
The update on the Supreme Leader’s health comes days after Israeli media reports claimed that Khamenei was in an “extremely critical condition.” Iran’s semi-official Mehr News agency has also released on Saturday (August 8) last week, an undated video of him.
In the video, Mojtaba was seen seemingly in good health, sitting with some men and talking to them as they listened to him with complete attention. It is not yet known when the video was shot. HT could not independently verify the video’s authenticity or whether Mojtaba Khamenei is the person seen in it.
“From the aspect of health, he is completely healthy. I mean, someone who can sit and debate with us for seven, eight hours cannot have any health problems,” Pezeshkian said.
Mojtaba became Iran’s Supreme Leader after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in joint strikes by the United States and Israel on February 28 which triggered the ongoing war. Pezeshkian said the meeting with Mojtaba was “good”, saying they had “talked about everything.” “We talked about all the problems, we shared our concerns,” the Iranian President said.
Purported visuals came after reports on Supreme Leader’s health
Apart from Israeli reports, IranWire, citing sources close to President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration, alsoreported that rumours about Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei being in an “extremely critical condition” were circulating at the highest levels of the Iranian regime.
“We would not be surprised if we heard news of his martyrdom soon,” The Jerusalem Post quoted a source as saying. HT has not independently verified the information.
According to several earlier reports, Mojtaba was injured and got potentially disfigured in the same strikes which led to his father’s death, and was undergoing treatment. He has not appeared in public since the attack and being named the Supreme Leader, including in his father’s funeral held last month. However, he has been communicating with senior officials of the Islamic Republic through a slow network of intermediaries to avoid being targeted, according to reports.
US President Donald Trump had, last month, claimed the Supreme Leader was “90 per cent gone.” “The son is 90% gone,” Trump was heard saying in a viral clip. However, Mojtaba has released written statements from time-to-time which have been read out on state television.
Mojtaba’s video released by Mehr gained traction on social media and was widely shared. However, several claimed the video was old. “Jason Brodsky, policy director at ‘United Against Nuclear Iran’ organisation, according to his X account, said, “This footage is old, from before the war. It was first circulating in March.”