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Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, met with the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Major General Ali Abdollahi, and issued "new guiding measures to pursue military operations and firmly confront adversaries," Iran's Fars News Agency reported Sunday.
In a second reported in-person meeting between Khamenei and a senior official in as many days, and the first involving a military commander since his appointment in March.
According to Fars, Abdollahi briefed Khamenei on the readiness of Iran's armed forces across all branches, including the Army, IRGC, Law Enforcement Forces, security and border forces, the Defense Ministry, and the Basij.
Abdollahi was quoted as saying: "The armed forces are ready to confront any action by the American-Zionist enemies. In case of any error by the enemy, Iran's response will be swift, severe, and decisive."
Khamenei, in turn, praised Iran's fighters for their performance during what Fars called "the Ramadan war," said Iran had "thwarted the enemies from achieving their evil goals" and issued new instructions for the continuation of operations and "powerful confrontation with enemies," the agency reported.
No photographs or videos of the meeting were published.
No images of Khamenei have been released by Iranian media since his appointment on March 9.
The military briefing follows Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's disclosure that he had held a nearly two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Khamenei, which he described as warm, direct, and conducted in a spirit of mutual trust, the first publicly confirmed in-person contact between the supreme leader and a senior official.
U.S. intelligence, cited by CNN, assesses that Khamenei is playing a critical role in shaping Iran's war strategy alongside senior officials, though the precise distribution of authority within what sources describe as a "fractured regime" remains unclear.
U.S. intelligence also concluded that Khamenei is likely helping direct how Iran manages ongoing negotiations with Washington.
In the first official public statement addressing Khamenei's health since the Feb. 28 strikes, Mazaher Hosseini, director general of protocol at the Office of the Supreme Leader, told Fars that Khamenei sustained injuries to his kneecap and lower back when he was knocked to the ground by the blast wave while heading toward his residence during the U.S.-Israeli strike on the leadership compound.
His wife and several others were killed in the same attack.
"The back injury has improved during this period, and the kneecap injury will soon heal as well. He is in full health," Hosseini said, according to Fars.
He dismissed reports of facial burns and severe head injuries, saying there was only "a small crack behind the ear" that had already been treated.
This contradicts earlier reporting by The New York Times (NYT), citing senior Iranian officials, that Khamenei had undergone three leg surgeries, would receive a prosthetic, had surgery on a hand that was slowly regaining function, and had suffered severe facial burns affecting his ability to speak.
Hosseini said Khamenei had not been at his usual lecture location at the time of the strikes, which was subsequently "flattened" in the bombardment.
He said Iran's adversaries were seeking audio, video, or other material of Khamenei "to carry out action against him," adding that Khamenei would address the public at "an appropriate time."
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