Sources in Tehran said Khamenei’s condition rapidly deteriorating, team of doctors flown in from Germany.
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
Iran’s longtime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, 82, is in failing health and recently missed critical meetings with the Islamic Republic’s president and other senior officials, reported Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas on Sunday morning.
Sources in Tehran did not tell Al-Qabas exactly what is afflicting Khamenei, but said his condition has deteriorated enough that a team of doctors was flown in from Germany especially to treat him.
Last Friday, he was too ill to attend a meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Parliament Speaker Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf, the head of the Judiciary, Hojjatul Islam Mohseni, and others.
As the nation’s Supreme Leader, Khamenei has the final say on military, political, and judicial matters. Because Khamenei did not make it to the meeting, any pressing decisions on these issues would have likely been put on hold.
Rumors about Khamenei’s health have swirled for years. In December 2020, after not being seen in public for several months, some media outlets reported that Iranian government was hiding his death.
Khamenei eventually made a public appearance to dispel the rumors, though he was reported to have transferred some of his powers to his son out of fear that his condition would deteriorate further.
In September 2014, Khamenei underwent surgery for prostate cancer.
The Supreme Leader called upon Muslim nations including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to reverse their normalization agreements with Israel in a fiery October 2021 speech.
“Some governments have unfortunately made errors — have made big errors and have sinned in normalizing (their relations) with the usurping and oppressive Zionist regime,” he said.
“It is an act against Islamic unity. They must return from this path and make up for this big mistake…If the unity of Muslims is achieved, the Palestinian question would definitely be resolved in the best fashion.”
A Reuters investigation from 2014 revealed that despite his austere image, Khamenei controls a financial empire worth some $95 billion.