In a new revelation, an Iranian cleric said that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei survived a second strike in February after the strikes targeting his father nearly killed him.
In an interview with Qatari television network Al Araby on Thursday, Mohsen Heydari, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, said that the Mojtaba was “pulled from the rubble” after the United States and Israel bombed the medical centre where he was being treated.
The strikes initially destroyed former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Tehran compound, killing the 86-year-old on February 28. A dozen of Iran’s top leaders were also killed in the strikes.
The US and Israel then bombed three different hospitals in Tehran in the days that followed, the New York Post reported.
“Even after he had been wounded and taken to the hospital, three hospitals in Tehran were bombed,” Heydari said. “Mojtaba Khamenei was in the third hospital and was pulled from the rubble,” he added.
The cleric's remarks added more uncertainty surrounding Khamenei’s health.
Khamenei, 56, was then moved to an unknown location and has not been seen or heard from since then.
Heydari also said that Khamenei had no idea that he was appointed the new supreme leader until the announcement was broadcast publicly on state TV.
However, when the decision was made, he had to legally and religiously accept it.
The Qom Secretariat of the Assembly of Experts, which selects the new supreme leader, was also targeted by the US and Israel; it was bombed, and eight people were killed.
The members reportedly wrote their votes on paper and then were summoned into a secret room without being told he location in advance, a week after the strikes killed the former supreme leader.
Heydari said he was the first person to suggest Khamenei’s name as a defiance to the US and President Trump, who objected to him being selected.
“Given the enemy’s position, we will choose and elect no one as leader and supreme guide of the Islamic Republic except Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei,” Heydari recalled saying.
“We obtained information that Mojtaba Khamenei was healthy and able to lead, and we determined that he met the requirements of religious qualification, justice and competence to manage the country,” he told the outlet.
Kjhameni was elected after receiving 50 of the 59 votes. Eight voted for Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, and one member of the assembly abstained.
Heydari called Khamenei a “man of the shadows” since he has never held a political position in Iran. He did, however, serve as an advisor to his father.
US intelligence says that Khamenei was badly disfigured during the attacks.
US President Trump said that he didn't think Khamenei was dead.
“He was very seriously wounded. The left side of his body, the arm, the leg, the whole thing. He was very seriously wounded, but I don’t think he’s dead,” he added.
