The chief of protocol at the office of the Iranian Supreme Leader stated that Mojtaba Khamenei had been slightly injured in the foot and lower back, and that “a small piece of shrapnel had hit him behind the ear” during the Israeli-American strike that killed his father and wife on February 28th.
Mojtaba Khamenei is recovering from his injuries and is now in good health,” Mazaher Hosseini told the crowd on Friday, May 8th in Iran. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not made any public appearances since his appointment in early March amid the war against Israel and the United States.
The chief of protocol at the office of the Iranian Supreme Leader clarified that the Ayatollah had been slightly injured in the foot and lower back, and that “a small piece of shrapnel had hit him behind the ear,” but that the injuries were healing. “Thank God, he is in good health,” Mazaher Hosseini told the crowd in Iran.
“False Accusations”
“The enemy spreads all kinds of rumors and false accusations. They want to see and find him, but we must be patient and not rush things. He will speak to you in due time,” he accused, directly targeting the Americans.
Earlier in the week, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian told state media that he had a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei. This would make him the first to have personally met the country’s Supreme Leader.
On the first day of the war on February 28th, Mojtaba Khamenei was injured in Israeli-American strikes that cost the life of his father and predecessor as Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. His appointment by the Assembly of Experts, the body of 88 members responsible for appointing the new Supreme Leader, was announced on state television on March 9th.
Shining by His Absence
Since then, Mojtaba Khamenei has only communicated through statements. At 56, he succeeded his father, who was killed at the age of 86 after over three decades in power. Ali Khamenei himself had succeeded the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989.
/2026/05/09/69fee9a8b1801790259353.jpg "2026 World Cup: Katy Perry, Vegedream, J Balvin… FIFA announces three opening ceremonies, one for each host country")
