- Mojtaba wounded, pulled from hospital rubble after bombing.
- Assembly of Experts secretly elected Mojtaba new Supreme Leader.
- Mojtaba’s health and whereabouts remained months of speculation.
Mojtaba Khamenei apparently survived two brushes with death in the US-Israel strikes on Iran, according to an Iranian cleric who has revealed new details about the secretive leader’s survival.
Khamenei, 56, was reportedly wounded in the initial strike that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and was rushed to a hospital in Tehran for treatment. But according to Mohsen Heydari, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the medical centre was later bombed, forcing rescuers to pull Mojtaba from beneath the rubble.
“Even after he had been wounded and taken to the hospital, three hospitals in Tehran were bombed,” Heydari told Qatari television network Al Araby on Thursday. He added that Mojtaba was at the third hospital and “was pulled from the rubble.”
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Khamenei Pulled From Rubble
Mojtaba subsequently disappeared from public view, with no public appearance or recorded voice message reported since. His whereabouts have remained unclear.
The revelations come months after the strikes that killed his father and several senior Iranian officials. Mojtaba was later chosen as Iran’s new supreme leader by the Assembly of Experts.
How Mojtaba Was Chosen As Iran’s Supreme Leader
According to Heydari, the assembly made the decision under extraordinary circumstances after its Qom secretariat was also hit in the strikes, killing eight people and destroying documents containing information and recommendations about potential candidates.
Members were subsequently asked to write down their votes before being summoned to a secret location without being told in advance where they were going or what the meeting was about, Heydari said.
He claimed he was the first to propose Mojtaba’s name, despite warnings from US President Donald Trump against selecting the late supreme leader’s son.
“We obtained information that Mojtaba Khamenei was healthy and able to lead,” Heydari said, adding that the assembly concluded he met the required religious and leadership qualifications.
Mojtaba secured 50 of the 59 votes cast. Eight members voted for Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, while one abstained.
Mojtaba Called ‘Man Of Shadows’
Heydari described Mojtaba as a “man of the shadows”, noting that he had never held a formal political position before becoming supreme leader but had reportedly served as an adviser to his father.
Mojtaba’s health and whereabouts have remained the subject of speculation for months. US officials have previously said he was badly wounded in the strikes, while Iranian officials have offered conflicting accounts of his condition.
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Iran President Says Mojtaba Is ‘Completely’ Healthy
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking to Fox News this week during the UN General Assembly in New York, said Mojtaba was “completely” healthy and claimed the two had met for around seven hours last month.
“We conducted talks,” Pezeshkian said.
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