US-Iran war: Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, has remained largely out of public view since taking over the leadership following the death of his father, Ali Khamenei, in a US-Israel strike on February 28. Reports suggest that Mojtaba is relying on a discreet system of handwritten messages, passed through a controlled “human chain,” to issue instructions.
According to ANI, The New York Times reported, citing an Iranian official, that no video or audio recordings of Mojtaba have been released. Instead, his directives are exclusively shared via social media posts or read aloud on state television.
The report further suggested that the Iranian leader is acting “consciously as he does not want to appear vulnerable or sound weak in his first public address.”
The NYT stated that high-ranking commanders of the Revolutionary Guard and senior government officials refrain from visiting him, fearing that Israel could “trace his location” through their movements.
How Mojtaba Khamenei is commanding Iran
To circumvent tracking by the US and Israel, the report detailed a secure communication system.
Messages intended for Mojtaba are “handwritten, sealed in envelopes and passed on via a human chain” of trusted couriers. These messengers reportedly navigate highways and rural back roads on motorcycles and in cars to reach his “hide-out.” And with his responses following the same secure circuit.
Was Mojtaba Khamenei injured?
The official cited by the New York Times report also revealed that while the top leader was “gravely” injured in the strikes, he remains “mentally sharp and engaged.”
The report stated that the strikes “damaged his face” and left him requiring “plastic surgery.”
The NYT added that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, a trained heart surgeon, and the country’s health minister have both been directly “involved in his care.” The leader is reportedly “mostly surrounded by doctors and healthcare professionals” at his undisclosed location.
In response to the claims regarding his health, a post on Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s X account slammed the “enemy’s media operations.”
The post accused such reports of seeking to “undermine unity and national security” following the publication of the details regarding the wounds sustained in the strike that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
US-Iran ceasefire
The report comes during a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran, following a period of heightened tensions in the Middle East. Despite the pause in hostilities, significant tensions in the Strait of Hormuz persist.
(with ANI inputs)
