Iran said Mojtaba Khamenei was suffering from a “small scratch” behind the ear despite reports he had undergone life-changing surgery on his face.
According to the regime’s first public comments on his injuries, the supreme leader is in “full health” after also suffering injuries to his kneecap and back in the US and Israel’s attack in February.
Khamenei has not been seen publicly since the strike on the Tehran compound of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his late father, on Feb 28.
He was reportedly not in the same building as his father, who was killed. The New York Times had reported that Khamenei’s face had required plastic surgery and that he was awaiting a prosthetic leg.
But in Iran’s first public comments on his injuries, the Fars News agency said: “[His] back injury has improved during this period, and the kneecap injury will soon heal as well. He is in full health.”
As for his facial injuries, Mazaher Hosseini, the director general of protocol at the office of the supreme leader, said there was only a “small crack behind the ear”.
The Telegraph revealed in March that Khamenei escaped death by seconds. Private comments by Mr Hosseini showed Khamenei had gone outside “to do something” moments before Israeli Blue Sparrow ballistic missiles hit his residence at 9.32am local time on Feb 28.
“He was outside and was heading upstairs when they struck the building with a missile. His wife, Ms Haddad, was martyred instantly,” Mr Hosseini said in the recording.
Mr Hosseini added: “Thank God, he is in good health. The enemy is spreading all kinds of rumours and false claims. They want to see him and find him, but people should be patient and not rush. He will speak to you when the time is right.”
On Thursday, Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, said he had met Khamenei at an undisclosed location.
“What struck me most during this meeting was the vision and the humble and sincere approach of the supreme leader of the Islamic revolution,” Mr Pezeshkian said.
Iranian state television said on Sunday that Ali Abdollahi, the head of Iran’s military central command, had met Khamenei.
Khamenei issued “new directives and guidance for the continuation of operations to confront the enemy”, state TV said, without specifying when the meeting took place.
The lack of evidence for Khamenei being alive has caused confusion in Washington, with Donald Trump repeatedly saying he does not know who is in charge of the Islamic Republic.
The US president said: “There is tremendous infighting and confusion within their leadership. Nobody knows who is in charge, including them.”
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said on Friday that Iran’s “system is still highly fractured and a bit dysfunctional as well”.
IRGC pulling the strings
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, and Abbas Araghchi, its foreign minister, have officially led the country’s talks with the US.
However, some analysts suggest the war has left the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) more in charge of Iran than ever, dictating the country’s negotiating position.
Referring to Khamenei, a source told CNN: “There is no indication he is actually giving orders on any ongoing basis, but nothing proves he is not.”
Ali Vaez, the Iran director of the International Crisis Group, told the New York Times: “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 IRGC because he owes his position and he owes the survival of the system to them.”
The IRGC has been more militant in its public statements since the ceasefire with the US took effect, repeatedly threatening to attack American assets in the region.
After American attacks on Iranian oil tankers, the group said in a statement on Sunday: “Any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centres in the region and enemy ships.”
