Amid reports that Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has given the nod for the second round of talks with the US, a report has said that the Iranian leader is undergoing treatment for severe facial burns.
Though Khamenei survived the bomb attack, it has left him with a prosthetic leg and facial plastic surgery, according to a report by The New York Times. He, however, is still capable of communicating, which is mostly through letters. He has already been subject to surgery on his hand and suffered severe facial burns for which he will get additional surgical procedures, the outlet reported.
Just after the airstrike that killed Mojtaba Khamenei’s father and former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the US had evaluated that Khamenei was likely “disfigured.”
Interestingly, Khamenei hasn't appeared in public, nor has the Iranian government issued new images of him or even recordings of his voice. A senior IRGC commander and a member of Iran’s parliamentary National Security Commission gave a bizarre response to this. According to Salar Velayatmadar, no new images of Mojtaba Khamenei will be released due to security concerns, including fears that enemies could use “occult sciences” to harm him.
But, analysts think Mojtaba is not yet in full command or control. Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa for international affairs think tank Chatham House, told The New York Times. “There is, perhaps, deference to him. He signs off, or he is part of the decision-making structure in a formal way. But he is presented with fait accompli presentations right now,” Vakil added.
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The report added that the decisions are collectively taken by the IRGC board members. “Mojtaba is managing the country as though he were the director of the board. He relies heavily on the advice and guidance of the board members, and they collectively make all the decisions,” Abdolreza Davari, a former senior adviser to former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a person familiar with Khamenei, told the Times.
Ali Vaez, the Iran director of the International Crisis Group, who has extensive contacts in Iran, also thinks Mojtaba is not that supreme. “Mojtaba is not supreme; he might be leader in name, but he is not supreme the way his father was. Mojtaba is subservient to the Revolutionary Guards because he owes his position and he owes the survival of the system to them,” Vaez continued.