Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since his appointment, was lightly injured in the US-Israeli strikes and also suffered a fractured foot and face lacerations in the ongoing war, according to multiple reports.

Khamenei, who has not been seen by Iranians or issued any public statement or message, was widely rumoured to have been injured in the US-Israeli strikes that killed his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28. 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.

An Iranian official toldReutersthat Mojtaba Khamenei was “lightly injured" but is continuing to operate, without offering details about the extent of any injury or why he has yet to make any public statement. An Israeli source had earlier informedReutersthat Israel’s intelligence assessment pointed to Khamenei being lightly wounded, which is why he has not been seen in public.

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Fractured Foot, Face Lacerations

Khamenei suffered a fractured foot and other minor injuries on the first day of the US and Israel’s campaign, a source toldCNN. The new supreme leader received a bruise around his left eye, as well as minor lacerations to his face, the source said.

Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s son Yousef said he had heard Khamenei was injured, telling the state-affiliated Iranian Students’ News Agency that the new supreme leader is “safe and there are no concerns."

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Apart from his father, the first day of the US-Israeli strikes also killed Mojtaba’s mother, sister and wife, according to Iranian state media. “His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei is today the heir to the blood of his martyred father, his martyred mother, his martyred sister and his martyred wife," a news anchor read out on state television.

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. Already a dominant force in Iran’s power structure, the IRGC has consolidated even greater authority since the war began, as per reports.

Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News