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U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated claims that Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader and son of Ali Khamenei, could be dead or seriously injured, saying there has been no public confirmation of his condition.
“The son is either dead or in extremely bad shape,” Trump said. “We’ve not heard from him at all. He’s gone," Trump told Financial Times in an interview posted on Sunday.
Trump also claimed that Iran had already undergone “regime change” after Iran’s longtime supreme leader Ali Khamenei and several senior officials were killed at the start of the war and in subsequent strikes.
Iranian officials have insisted that the head of state is safe and in good condition after his absence from public appearances fueled speculation that he had been seriously injured.
This is not the first time Trump has suggested Iran’s new supreme leader might be dead or injured. Earlier, he said “we don't know” if Iran's Mojtaba Khamenei is dead, adding that “nobody's seen it, which is unusual.”
However, Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement on March 20 that the country’s front lines are far stronger than its “enemies” assume, accusing them of miscalculating Iran’s internal strength.
In a written message marking the start of the Persian New Year, Nowruz, Khamenei said the war began after the enemy lost hope of triggering a popular uprising inside Iran.
He said adversaries believed assassinating top leaders and military figures would create fear and despair among the population and lead to the collapse of the political system.
Khamenei said Iranians formed what he described as a “vast defense line” across the country, frustrating those plans.
He also called on Iranian media to avoid focusing on internal weaknesses, warning that hostile media operations aim to undermine national unity.
Earlier, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, denied media reports that Mojtaba Khamenei had been transferred to Russia for medical treatment after being injured in a U.S.-Israeli strike late last month.
In a statement on the social media platform X, Jalali described the reports as “a new psychological war.”
“Iran's leaders don't need to run and hide in shelters; their place is on the streets among the people. The blood of the martyr (then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei) cancels out the magic of psychological warfare and a flood of lies,” he said.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike at the start of the war on Feb. 28, was appointed as the country’s third supreme leader since the 1979 revolution.
Regional escalation has continued since Israel and the United States launched an offensive against Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,340 people to date.
Tehran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Gulf countries hosting U.S. military assets, causing casualties and infrastructure damage while disrupting global markets and aviation.
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