Despite crippling injuries, Mojtaba Khamenei playing key role in Iran war – report

American intelligence suggests Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is able to direct Iran’s military planning despite the serious injuries he suffered in an airstrike at the beginning of the war.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is playing a significant role in shaping Tehran’s war strategy and negotiations with Washington, despite remaining out of public view since being severely injured in the strike that killed his father, CNN reported over the weekend.

According to sources familiar with US intelligence assessments, Khamenei is believed to be helping guide Iran’s approach to talks aimed at ending the war, though one source said he appears only sporadically accessible and may be removed from day-to-day decision-making.

The younger Khamenei has not appeared publicly since the early-war attack that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian military officials.

US officials have not visually confirmed his whereabouts, and intelligence analysts remain uncertain how much direct authority he is exercising inside a fractured regime.

Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf are handling much of the daily management of the war, according to the report.

“There is no indication he is actually giving orders on any ongoing basis but nothing proving he is not,” one source familiar with US intelligence assessments told CNN.

Iranian officials have sought to counter speculation about Khamenei’s condition. Mazaher Hosseini, head of protocol in the supreme leader’s office, said Friday that Khamenei was recovering and “is now in complete health.”

“Thank God, he is in good health,” Hosseini said. “The enemy is spreading all kinds of rumors and false claims. They want to see him and find him, but people should be patient and not rush. He will speak to you when the time is right.”

Saudi channel Al Hadath also quoted a senior Iranian official as saying Khamenei had recovered from his wartime injury and was now “in full health.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said earlier this week that he held a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Khamenei, the first reported in-person meeting between the new supreme leader and a top Iranian official.

US officials say uncertainty over who holds real authority in Tehran has complicated efforts to reach a diplomatic settlement.

“Their system is still highly fractured, and it’s dysfunctional as well, so that may be serving as an impediment,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CNN that Iran had grown weaker under US pressure and that internal divisions were affecting negotiations.

“While the United States grows stronger following the tremendous success of Operation Epic Fury, Iran has grown weaker by the day thanks to the overpowering effects of Operation Economic Fury, the military blockade, and fracturing among the regime,” Kelly said.

Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, said the regime may be invoking Khamenei’s authority to shield negotiators from criticism.

“The system does deliberately highlight Mojtaba’s involvement because it provides a protective shield,” Vaez told CNN.

US intelligence also assesses that Iran’s military has been damaged but not destroyed. CNN reported that recent assessments found as many as two-thirds of Iran’s missile launchers may have survived or been recovered during the ceasefire.