Amid questions of Mojtaba Khamenei's health as the war in the Gulf nears two months, a new video has surfaced online, sparking claims that Iran's current Supreme Leader had died.
The viral video allegedly shows a mural, titled 'Martyrs', being unveiled, showing portraits of those killed in the war between Iran and US-Israel forces.
Iran's ex-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei can be seen in a large portrait at the centre of the mural, with four smaller portraits around him, and a number of even smaller pictures around the five of them.
While the first three portraits beside Ali Khamenei seem to show Iran's first Supreme Leader Ayatollah Rouhalla Khomeini, former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, and IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, it was the fourth portrait that sparked the buzz around Mojtaba's health.
The fourth portrait allegedly shows the current Supreme Leader, leading to speculations that he had succumbed to his injuries from the airstrike on the supreme leaders' compound in Tehran.
However, THE WEEK could not independently verify the allegations of his death.
The lack of clarification from Iranian officials about the mural video has also raised questions of whether Iran was hiding the potential death of their Supreme Leader in a bid to control the narrative.
Often touted as Iran's Supreme Leader from the shadows in order to project strength, Mojtaba's health was last discussed in a New York Times report, which stated that his lips had face had been "burned severely" after the airstrike, making it difficult for him to speak.
He had also been awaiting a prosthetic leg and plastic surgery, but was still reportedly "mentally sharp and engaged".
The Supreme Leader's health concerns have also led to a significant change in Iran's administration, with senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials now having a major say in decisions that Mojtaba offers his guidance on, the report added.
This also comes amid attempts by war meditators Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey to get Iran and the US to the negotiating table again for a ceasefire deal, after Wasshington pulled out of the Islamabad talks altogether, and Tehran continues to cite the US Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as a ceasefire violation.