Trump casts doubt on Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei's fate: 'Pretty good show'

WASHINGTON, DC: President Trump cast doubt on Wednesday, August 26, on reports that Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has died, saying he believes the leader is alive but badly wounded as conflicting accounts circulate.

Khamenei has been unseen throughout the US-Israeli war, while an Iranian official cited by The Atlantic said he may have died or suffered brain death.

Trump made the remarks during an interview with radio host Glenn Beck while discussing the war and efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict.

Trump says Mojtaba Khamenei is badly wounded

“I don’t think he’s dead. He was very seriously wounded. The left side of his body, the arm, the leg, the whole thing,” Trump told Beck.

Trump added, “He was very seriously wounded, but I don’t think he’s dead. And if he is, they’re putting on a pretty good show.”

The comments came after the Atlantic cited an Iranian official who said, “I believe Mojtaba has either passed away or is brain-dead.”

Trump said Iranian peace negotiators still “talk about, you know, going back to talk to him all the time” to obtain what he described as a final blessing on matters under negotiation.

Trump also said the US had the Strait of Hormuz open and claimed, “We took out 22 boats last night.” 

He praised the Navy and military while discussing the blockade.

President Trump says war victory is still ahead

Trump has said the administration expects a major victory, even as his comments indicate the conflict has lasted longer than he initially projected.

“We had the victory in Venezuela, and we’re going to have a big victory here very soon,” Trump told Beck.

The president also told Al Jazeera Wednesday that the US is “achieving a very big victory” as the Iran war approaches six months.

He said the conflict “will continue for as long as necessary” and that there was no timetable to resume peace talks.

Trump’s envoys have struggled to negotiate an end to the war. 

A cease-fire that began April 8 and a memorandum of understanding signed June 17 collapsed last month after Iran attacked commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Strait of Hormuz and nuclear sites remain disputed

Iran and Oman said on Tuesday that they were discussing a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz through a temporary shipping route and clear sea mines. 

Tehran has insisted the US lift its naval blockade and end the war before ships resume transit.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he recently told Trump that a diplomatic deal with Iran is “not possible,” while describing Iran’s leadership as “savages.”

The Trump administration also launched Operation Economic Outcast this week, targeting Iran’s economic ties with countries including China and Russia.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, accused the US and Israel of pressuring the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect nuclear facilities damaged by military strikes, as per CBS News.

“At a time when the (International Atomic Energy Agency) has no such protocol and is not taking a position either, it is only the United States and Israel that are applying pressure for the Agency to go to the damaged sites and inspect them,” Eslami said, according to the outlet. 

He said Iran remains in a “wartime situation” and that the damaged facilities have not yet been secured for inspections.