‘Alive Or Not?’ Mojtaba Khamenei Breaks Silence After Trump Doubt

Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, thanked Iraq for its support against the US and Israel in a recent written message. He has not appeared in public since succeeding his late father, who was killed in an airstrike. This absence has fueled intense speculation about his health and whereabouts.

Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has in a written message thanked the people of Iraq for their support in the war against the United States and Israel, Iranian media said on Sunday.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei who was killed in an airstrike at the start of the war on February 28, has still yet to appear in public after being named and has only issued a handful of written statements.

His failure to appear in person has led to intense speculation over his condition and whereabouts, but state television and some Iranian officials have indicated he is recovering from wounds sustained in an airstrike.

In the a message, Khamenei "expressed his appreciation to the supreme religious authority (in Iraq) and the people of Iraq for their clear stance against aggression against Iran and their support for our country", the ISNA news agency said, referring to the Iraq-based Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, one of the most revered figures in Shia Islam.

The message was delivered following a meeting between the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a Shia party, and the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, it said.

No further details were given on how the message was transmitted.

Since being named, Mojtaba Khamenei has released a first statement as supreme leader and a message for the Persian New Year, Nowruz.

Both statements, read out on television by another speaker, defiantly predicted victory in the war.

State media regularly publish images of Mojtaba Khamenei but without giving any indication that they are new. He also has his own official Telegram and X accounts.

US President Donald Trump last week said Washington was dealing with a "top person" in talks with Iran but made clear it was not the supreme leader.

"We have not heard from the son... We don't know if he is living," said Trump.

Mojtaba Khamenei is the third supreme leader since the 1979 Islamic revolution, succeeding his father and revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed)