Where is Mojtaba Khamenei? Iran’s new leader missing from public view amid injury claims

TEHRAN, IRAN: Questions are piling up over the whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei, who was recently appointed as Iran’s top authority but has yet to make a single public appearance since taking the role.

Latest reports claim the new leader may have been wounded during the country’s ongoing war.

Is Mojtaba Khamenei injured?

According to a source cited by The Jerusalem Post, internal assessments suggest Mojtaba was injured during the conflict but remains capable of carrying out his duties and managing state affairs as Iran’s new supreme leader.

Even Iran’s own television seemed to acknowledge something wasn’t quite right. A state TV anchor described Mojtaba as a “janbaz,” or “wounded veteran” of the Ramadan War (the name Iran has given to the current conflict). However, Reuters has not been able to confirm his condition.

Security fears may also be playing a role. His father, Iran’s longtime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, was assassinated on February 28.

Combined with the reported injury, this may explain why Mojtaba has remained silent since the country’s Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body responsible for selecting the supreme leader, announced that it had elected him to the position.

Still, the official broadcast left out crucial details. It did not explain how the injury occurred, how severe it might be, or exactly when it happened. It also failed to clarify whether the wound has affected Mojtaba’s ability to carry out day-to-day responsibilities.

Iran’s new leader Mojtaba Khamenei absent from public view

Despite earlier assurances from Iranian officials and state media that the leadership transition was proceeding normally, no new photographs or videos of Mojtaba have been released since he assumed the role.

State broadcasters have instead relied on old footage of Khamenei and even AI-generated images to project stability within the chain of command.

The absence of real visuals has fueled speculation. Observers and opposition figures are openly questioning his condition, while some on social media are wondering whether he may have succumbed to his injuries.

The lack of public appearances has prompted speculation that someone else inside the ruling establishment may be calling the shots while Mojtaba remains largely symbolic.

Some opposition figures argue that another senior official could currently be exercising real authority, leaving Mojtaba to serve mainly as a figurehead during the crisis.

Mojtaba’s sudden rise to the top already carried plenty of controversy.

The cleric is the son of Ali Khamenei, who dominated Iranian politics for decades as the supreme leader. While Mojtaba did not formally hold a major government position for much of his career, analysts long believed he wielded substantial influence behind the scenes within Iran’s political and security networks.

IRGC reportedly backed Mojtaba Khamenei’s rise to power

According to senior Iranian sources cited by the Times of Israel, the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forced through Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment as supreme leader. Already one of the most powerful forces in Iran, the Revolutionary Guards have reportedly expanded their influence even further since the war began.

Senior political and religious figures initially pushed back against Mojtaba’s appointment, according to the sources. Their resistance delayed the official announcement of the new supreme leader by several hours before the IRGC ultimately prevailed.

But even after the decision was finalized, unease remained. By March 10 (nearly 48 hours after the selection), Mojtaba had still issued no statement. Some insiders worry that the new arrangement could lead to a more confrontational era for the country.

Mojtaba’s selection, reportedly engineered by the IRGC, could lead to a more aggressive stance abroad and harsher internal repression, said three senior Iranian sources along with a reformist former official and another insider.

Two of those sources warned that the dominance of the Revolutionary Guards could further reshape the Islamic Republic into something closer to a military state. Such a shift, they said, could weaken the system’s already shrinking support base.

One of the three senior sources bluntly told the outlet that the IRGC is now effectively running Iran.

According to that source, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had managed to keep the corps in check, balancing its influence against the interests of political and clerical elites within the system. But with Mojtaba now in power, that balance may be gone.

The Revolutionary Guards may end up having the final say on the country’s most important decisions, the source warned.