As the US and Iran strain the limits of the ceasefire on the war in the Gulf, which has crossed 50 days, a new report has shed light on Mojtaba Khamenei's health.
The Supreme Leader of Iran, who has not been publicly seen since the war began, has allegedly been "burned severely" on his lips and face, making it difficult for him to speak.
According to a New York Times report citing four officials in the know, Khamenei will soon need a prosthetic leg—for one of his legs that has been operated on thrice—and plastic surgery, but is still "mentally sharp and engaged", and one of his arms is regaining function.
As a result, Khamenei has made sure to make his presence felt with a number of sharp statements throughout the course of the war and the ceasefire.
Mojtaba's injuries come after the US-Israel airstrike on the Supreme Leaders' compound in central Tehran killed his father and the former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and other members of Iran's top brass at the start of the war.
However, as the war has progressed, Mojtaba's injuries have also had a major impact on the country's administration.
Building on earlier reports, the new report adds that "access to him [remains] extremely difficult and limited", as he is surrounded mostly by a team of doctors and medical staff, who are treating the injuries he sustained in the airstrikes.
He is advised by senior commanders of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), as well as those aligned with them, who allegedly exert a great deal of influence on matters of security, war, and diplomacy.
It also pointed out that messages for Mojtaba are handwritten—sealed in envelopes and relayed via a human chain from one trusted courier to the next, who takes a difficult journey to reach him. His replies also return to the central administration in the same way, the report said, citing six officials in the know.
“Mojtaba is not supreme; he might be leader in name, but he is not supreme the way his father was ... (he) is subservient to the (IRGC) because he owes his position and he owes the survival of the system to them," explained Ali Vaez, the Iran director of the International Crisis Group, told The New York Times.
As Mojtaba continues on the road to recovery—and effectively, a greater say in things later on—comments from US President Donald Trump have also sparked curiosity on whether the Iranian regime is truly stable.
"The infighting is between the “Hardliners,” who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the “Moderates,” who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!"he wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday.
However, the report claims that despite the presence of hardliners urging the central leadership to refuse any compromise with the US and Israel, there are currently "no signs of disarray" among the IRGC generals that make decisions.
