Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is “safe and sound" despite circulating reports that he was injured during the war with Israel and the United States, the son of Iran’s president said on Wednesday.
“I heard news that Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound," Yousef Pezeshkian, who also serves as a government adviser, wrote in a post on his Telegram channel.
Iranian state television had earlier described Khamenei as a “wounded veteran of the Ramadan war," though it did not provide details about the nature or extent of any injury.
Senior Iranian sources said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pushed through the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader, viewing him as a more compliant successor who would support their hardline policies.
According to the sources, the Guards overrode resistance from senior political and clerical figures who had expressed concerns about his selection, delaying the formal announcement by several hours.
Already a dominant force in Iran’s power structure, the IRGC has consolidated even greater authority since the war began, the sources said. The elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei, they added, may signal a more aggressive posture abroad and tighter internal controls.
Three senior Iranian sources, along with a reformist former official and another insider, suggested that the Guards’ role in orchestrating the succession could lead to increased military influence over state affairs.
Two of the sources warned that the IRGC’s expanding grip risks transforming the Islamic Republic into what they described as a de facto military state, retaining only a thin veneer of religious legitimacy. They said such a shift could further erode public support and reduce the regime’s flexibility in responding to mounting domestic and external challenges.
Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News
