Mojtaba Khamenei cheated death by taking a walk seconds before US-Israeli strike killed his family: Report

Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new Supreme Leader, survived the US and Israeli strikes on February 28 because he stepped out into his garden for a walk.

The information was revealed in a leaked audio obtained by The Telegraph.

Mojtaba Khamenei was reportedly targeted in the same attack that also killed his father and other members of the Islamic Republic. He had just stepped outside “to do something just a few minutes before Israeli ballistic missile ‘Blue Sparrow’ hit his residence on February 28, 9:32 am local time.

The details came from an address delivered by Mazaher Hosseini, head of protocol for Ali Khamenei’s office, to senior clerics and commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). A recording of his comments made on March 12 in Tehran’s Qolhak has been verified independently and was leaked to The Telegraph.

Hosseini revealed in the audio that Mojtaba suffered an injury to his leg in the strikes and that his wife and so were killed instantly, and that his brother-in-law was decapitated.

The body of the Mohammad Shirazi, chief of Khamenei’s military bureau, was also “blown to pieces”. He had to be identified by “a few kilos of flesh”, according to the comments by Hosseini. Only “a few kilos of flesh” could be used to identify him, Mr Hosseini told the meeting.

Hosseini said that Mojtaba's survival was God’s will. God’s will was that Mojtaba had to go out to the yard to do something and then return.

“He was outside and was heading upstairs when they struck the building with a missile. His wife, Ms Haddad, was martyred instantly,” he said.

Mojtaba lived in the same compound as his father. And his siblings

The space also housed a religious hall where Ali Khamenei would give speeches.

The missiles on Feb 28 hit when Ali Khamenei and senior security officials were gathered for a meeting; he was killed along with Mohammad Pakpour, the IRGC chief, and Aziz Nasirzadeh, Iran’s defence minister. The strikes targeted multiple locations within the complex.

“These devils had considered several locations within the office complex to strike – one of them was the place of the supreme leader,” he said. “They hit that location with three missiles.”

Mojtaba’s home on an upper floor, as well as the residence below, which belonged to his brother-in-law, Misbah al-Huda Bagheri Kani and the home of his brother, Mostafa, and his wife, were also hit in the strikes.

“The missile was so powerful that it went downstairs where Mr Misbah was, it went to Mr Misbah’s room,” Hosseini said. “The missiles were struck in a way that cut his head in half.” Mostafa Khamenei and his wife were “nearby” in a third residence when the residence was struck.
“Thank God some dust and rubble fell over, but they came out unharmed,” Hosseini added.

Mojtaba has not appeared publicly after the start of the war, since he was elected Supreme Leader. He has only given a written message to the people, which was read out on State television. Many, including US President Donald Trump, speculate that he could be more injured than Iran is letting on.

An Iranian official who spoke to The Telegraph said that military leaders in Iran had no information about the supreme leader's conditions and that “all commanders have no news about him.”

It's also known to the US intelligence that Ali Khamenei did not want Mojtaba to take over the leadership.

One Iranian official told The Telegraph, “This is not something the Americans should tell us. Everyone knew that the supreme leader did not want Mojtaba to become the leader.”

The source said, “Mojtaba was selected, but it is against the will of the supreme leader and maybe against his own will too. We still have not heard anything from him.”