Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei survived a second round of US strikes on Tehran after he was wounded in the initial attacks, claiming his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on February 28, the Iranian cleric reported.
Mojtaba Khamenei was pulled from the rubble of a Tehran hospital after US and Israeli strikes hit the building, the New York post said. He has not appeared in public since the US-Iran war occurred, which further intensifies speculation about his health and whereabouts.
The New York Post quoted Mohsen Heydari, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, saying, “Even after he had been wounded and taken to the hospital, three hospitals in Tehran were bombed. Mojtaba Khamenei was in the third hospital and was pulled from the rubble.”
“Given the enemy’s position, we will choose and elect no one as leader and supreme guide of the Islamic Republic except Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei,” he said.
“We obtained information that Mojtaba Khamenei was healthy and able to lead, and we determined that he met the requirements of religious qualification, justice, and competence to manage the country,” he said. Heydari also referred to Mojtaba Khamenei as a “man of the shadows,” he added.
The New York Post reported that three hospitals were bombed “at some time in the days that followed” and “Mojtaba Khamenei was in the third hospital and was pulled from the rubble,” it further reported.
Mojtaba was announced as the Supreme Leader of Iran on March 8, 10 days after the death of his father. A meeting was held secretly under heightened security to choose Ali Khamenei’s successor.
Heydari, according to India Today, said the US strikes also hit the Assembly’s secretariat in Qom, killing eight people and destroying documents pertaining to the succession process.
He said the loss of the records forced members to record their votes on paper. They were later called to a closed meeting but were not told in advance where it would take place or why they had been summoned, India Today highlighted.
According to Heydari, he was the first to nominate Mojtaba. The Assembly then examined whether he fulfilled the religious and leadership conditions required for the post.
Mojtaba won 50 of the 59 votes cast, Heydari said. Ayatollah Alireza Arafi received eight votes, while one member abstained.
The account sheds some light on Mojtaba’s movements after the US strikes, though his whereabouts and health remain unknown. His absence from public view has led to continued speculation, amid conflicting statements from Iranian and US officials about his condition.Mojtaba Khamenei Survived Two US Strikes, Was Pulled From Rubble of Tehran Hospital, Iranian Cleric Claims.
