Unverified Reports Detail Injuries to Iran's New Supreme Leader

Fresh uncertainty clouds Iran's already fragile leadership as the country opens high-stakes ceasefire talks with the United States this weekend. Three people close to Mojtaba Khamenei's inner circle describe the 56-year-old Supreme Leader as still recovering from severe facial and leg injuries suffered in the February 28 airstrike that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The sources told Reuters the younger Khamenei's face was disfigured and that he sustained significant trauma to one or both legs; one U.S. intelligence source separately told the agency he is believed to have lost a leg. All accounts remain unverified.

The strike on the supreme leader's compound in central Tehran also killed Mojtaba Khamenei's wife, brother-in-law and sister-in-law. He was named his father's successor on March 8. No photographs or video of him have emerged since then, though Iranian state television broadcast an audio message attributed to him on April 9 in which he said Iran "does not want war" but would seek compensation. A state newsreader earlier called him a "janbaz," a Persian term for those badly wounded in conflict. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated on March 13 that Khamenei was "wounded and likely disfigured."

Khamenei participates in senior meetings by audio conference and remains engaged on decisions involving the war and the negotiations now underway in Islamabad, according to two of the sources. Reuters could not independently confirm any of the descriptions of his condition or activities. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to questions about his injuries or absence from public view.

The reports surface at a moment when the theocratic system's stability is under strain. In Iran's structure, the supreme leader holds ultimate authority over elected institutions and directly commands the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Ali Khamenei had spent decades consolidating that power after succeeding Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. His son, by contrast, is relatively untested in the role.

Alex Vatanka, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Reuters that regardless of injury severity, the new leader is unlikely to exercise the same overarching control as his predecessor. "Mojtaba will be one voice but it will not be the decisive one," Vatanka said. The analyst added that the Revolutionary Guard has emerged as the dominant voice on strategic decisions during the conflict. Senior Iranian sources had previously indicated the Guards helped steer Mojtaba into the position.

Social media inside Iran, when connectivity allows, circulates memes questioning his whereabouts, including images of an empty chair under a spotlight with the caption "Where is Mojtaba?" Some Basij militia members contacted by Reuters defended his low profile, citing the risk of further U.S. or Israeli strikes that have already decimated much of the country's senior leadership. One Qom resident told a reporter the leader should avoid becoming a target.

The sources close to Khamenei's circle said images or a public appearance could come within one to two months, but only when his health and the security situation permit. Other outlets have offered milder descriptions drawn from different unnamed Iranian and Western intelligence sources: a fractured foot and facial lacerations rather than outright disfigurement. Those earlier accounts, published in March by the New York Times and CNN, did not claim leg loss.

No official Iranian statement has detailed the extent of any injuries. The broader context includes January 2026 protests in which security forces killed thousands of civilians, according to the Institute for the Study of War and other conflict trackers, preceding the escalation that led to the February 28 strikes. One of the people close to Khamenei's circle stressed he would appear only when conditions allow. The CIA declined comment. The Israeli prime minister's office did not respond to questions.