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Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is recovering from severe facial and leg injuries suffered in the airstrike that killed his father at the start of the war, Reuters reported, citing three people close to his inner circle.
He remains mentally sharp and continues to take part in decision-making on major issues, including the war and negotiations with Washington.
According to the report, Khamenei, 56, suffered disfiguring injuries to his face and a significant injury to one or both legs in the attack on the supreme leader's compound in central Tehran on Feb. 28, the first day of the war launched by the U.S. and Israel.
Three people close to Khamenei's inner circle said Iran's new supreme leader was badly wounded in the strike that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, who had ruled since 1989.
They said Mojtaba Khamenei's face was disfigured in the attack and that he suffered a major injury to one or both legs.
Khamenei's wife, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law were also among family members killed in the strike, according to the sources.
A source familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments said Khamenei was believed to have lost a leg.
Khamenei's whereabouts, condition, and ability to rule remain largely unclear to the public.
No photo, video, or audio recording of him has been published since the air attack and his subsequent appointment as his father's replacement on March 8.
Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to questions about the extent of his injuries or the reason no images or recordings of him have been released.
There has also been no official Iranian statement on the extent of his injuries.
However, a state television newsreader described him as a "janbaz" after he was named supreme leader, a term used for those badly wounded in war.
Despite the injuries, the three people close to his circle said Khamenei is recovering and remains mentally sharp.
Two of them said he has been participating in meetings with senior officials through audio conferencing and remains engaged in decisions on major issues, including the war and negotiations with Washington.
The question of whether his health allows him to run state affairs comes at what was described as Iran's gravest moment of peril in decades, as high-stakes peace talks with the United States opened in Islamabad on Saturday.
The accounts of Khamenei's injuries were said to be consistent with remarks made by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on March 13, when he said Khamenei was "wounded and likely disfigured."
In an April 8, 2026, press briefing held with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, Hegseth also referred to the "so-called new supreme leader" as "wounded and disfigured."
At that briefing, Hegseth said the new regime was out of options and out of time and had cut a deal, adding that the agreement meant Iran would never possess a nuclear weapon.
Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said that regardless of the severity of Mojtaba Khamenei's injuries, it was unlikely that the new and inexperienced leader would be able to wield the same overarching power as his father.
Vatanka said that while Mojtaba Khamenei is seen as representing continuity, it could take years for him to build the same level of automatic authority.
He said Mojtaba would be one voice but not necessarily the decisive one, and that the regime as a whole would have to decide where it was going.
Senior Iranian sources had previously indicated that Mojtaba Khamenei does not command absolute power in the same way as his father.
The Revolutionary Guards, which helped steer him into the top position after his father's assassination, have emerged as the dominant voice on strategic decisions during the war.
Iran's U.N. mission did not respond to questions about the balance of power between the Guards and the new supreme leader.
Under Iran's theocratic system, ultimate authority is supposed to be exercised by the supreme leader, a senior Shiite cleric appointed by an assembly of 88 ayatollahs.
The leader oversees the elected president while directly commanding parallel institutions, including the Revolutionary Guards, a powerful political and military force.
Iran's first supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, held unquestioned authority as the leader of the revolution and the most learned cleric of his era.
His successor, Ali Khamenei, was a less revered cleric but had served as Iran's president and spent decades consolidating authority after taking office in 1989, in part by promoting the power of the Revolutionary Guards.
Mojtaba Khamenei had for years played an influential role within his father's office and had built ties with senior Guards figures.
While Mojtaba Khamenei is widely expected to continue his father's hardline approach because of his links to the Guards, little is known about his broader worldview.
His first communication with Iranians as the supreme leader came in a written statement on March 12, which was read out by a television presenter.
In that statement, he said the Strait of Hormuz should remain closed and warned regional countries to shut U.S. bases.
His office has since issued several other short written statements, including one on March 20 welcoming the Persian new year, which he called the "year of resistance."
Public statements on Iran's war stance, diplomacy, neighbors, ceasefire negotiations, and domestic unrest have instead been made by other senior officials.
Khamenei's absence has become a subject of widespread discussion on Iranian social media and in messaging app groups when internet access allows.
Conspiracy theories about his condition and about who is running the country have spread widely.
One popular meme shows an empty chair under a spotlight with the slogan "Where is Mojtaba?"
Some government supporters, however, argued that it was important for him to keep a low profile because of the threat posed by repeated U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that have already killed much of the country's leadership.
A senior member of the Basij militia, which is run by the Revolutionary Guards, supported that view.
A lower-ranking Basij member from the city of Qom, Mohammad Hosseini, said in a text message that Khamenei should not appear in public only to become a target.
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