{"id":47476,"date":"2026-04-11T08:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T08:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=47476"},"modified":"2026-04-11T08:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T08:50:08","slug":"irans-missing-supreme-leader-mojtaba-khamenei-has-severe-and-disfiguring-wounds-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=47476","title":{"rendered":"Iran&#8217;s missing Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has &#8216;severe and disfiguring wounds&#8217;: report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Iran\u2019s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still recovering from severe facial and leg injuries suffered in <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/12\/world-news\/irans-new-impotent-supreme-leader-releases-first-statement-after-reports-emerge-he-is-in-coma-had-leg-amputated\/\">the airstrike that killed his father at the beginning of the war<\/a>, three people close to his inner circle told Reuters.<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei\u2019s face was disfigured in the attack on the supreme leader\u2019s compound in central Tehran and he suffered a significant injury to one or both legs, all three sources said.<\/p>\n<p>The 56-year-old is nonetheless recovering from his wounds and remains mentally \u200bsharp, according to the people, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (seen here in 2019) is reportedly still recovering from severe facial and leg injuries. <span class=\"credit\">ISNA\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He is taking part in meetings with senior officials via audio conferencing and is engaged in decision-making on major issues including the war and\u00a0negotiations\u00a0\u200cwith Washington, two of them said.<\/p>\n<p>The question of whether Khamenei\u2019s health allows him to run state affairs comes during Iran\u2019s moment of gravest peril for decades, with high-stakes peace talks with the United States opening in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The accounts of the people close to Khamenei\u2019s inner circle provide the most detailed description of the leader\u2019s condition for weeks. Reuters couldn\u2019t independently verify their descriptions.<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/07\/world-news\/irans-supreme-leader-mojtaba-khamenei-unconscious-and-unable-to-be-involved-in-any-decision-making\/\">whereabouts, condition and ability to rule still largely remain a mystery to the public<\/a>, with no photo, video or audio recording of him published since the air attack and his subsequent appointment as his \u200bfather\u2019s replacement on March 8.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s United Nations mission did not respond to Reuters questions about the extent of Khamenei\u2019s injuries or the reason he has not yet appeared in any images or recordings.<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei was wounded on February 28, the first \u200bday of the war launched by the US and Israel, in the attack that killed his father and predecessor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had ruled since 1989. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Khamenei\u2019s father and predecessor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes. <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mojtaba Khamenei\u2019s wife, brother-in-law \u2060and sister-in-law were among other members of his family killed in the strike.<\/p>\n<p>There has been no official Iranian statement on the extent of Khamenei\u2019s injuries. <\/p>\n<p>However, a newsreader on state television described him as a \u201cjanbaz\u201d, a term used for those badly wounded in war, \u200bafter he was named supreme leader.<\/p>\n<p>The accounts of Khamenei\u2019s injuries tally with a\u00a0statement\u00a0made by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on March 13 when <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/13\/world-news\/irans-new-supreme-leader-is-wounded-and-likely-disfigured-pete-hegseth-says\/\">he said that Khamenei was \u201cwounded and likely disfigured.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Iranians trooping through the streets of Tehran holding posters of the new Supreme Leader. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A source familiar with US intelligence assessments told Reuters that Khamenei was \u200bbelieved to have lost a leg.<\/p>\n<p>The CIA declined to comment on Khamenei\u2019s condition. The Israeli prime minister\u2019s office didn\u2019t respond to questions.<\/p>\n<p>Alex Vatanka, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said that, regardless of the severity of his injuries, it was unlikely the new and inexperienced leader would be able to command the overarching power wielded by his father.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on March 13 that Khamenei was \u201cwounded and likely disfigured.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While he is seen to represent continuity, it could take years for him to build up the same level of automatic authority, Vatanka added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMojtaba will be one voice but it will not be the decisive one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe needs to prove himself \u200bas the credible, powerful, overriding voice. The regime as a whole has to make a decision in terms of where they are going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the people close to Khamenei\u2019s circle said images of the supreme leader could be expected to be \u200breleased within one or two months and that he might even appear in public then, although all three sources stressed he would only emerge when his health and the security situation allowed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/11\/world-news\/irans-missing-supreme-leader-mojtaba-khamenei-has-severe-and-disfiguring-wounds-report\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iran\u2019s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still recovering from severe facial and leg injuries suffered in the airstrike that killed his father at the beginning&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}