Iran publicly detailed the injuries suffered by Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei for the first time, with an Iranian official claiming that he “is now in good health.”
The Iranian supreme leader has not been seen since the Feb. 28 attack that killed his father and longtime supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Iranian official Mazaher Hosseini confirmed he was hurt in the attacks, saying he suffered injuries to his back and kneecap. He added that Khamenei’s knee is expected to heal soon and that his back problem has been resolved, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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The public announcement to an Iranian crowd came after the United States and Iran exchanged fire throughout the week, as the tentative ceasefire remains intact. The U.S. Central Command provided an update to the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, saying that forces “have redirected 58 commercial vessels and disabled 4 since April 13 to prevent ships from entering or leaving Iranian ports.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrhman al Thani in Miami on Saturday to discuss efforts to end the war, according to Axios.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the world will see “one big glow” if Iran doesn’t agree to a deal soon, echoing continued threats of escalation. The public confirmation of injuries comes after Trump said earlier in the month that Iranian negotiators “don’t know who their leaders are.”
Khamenei said on April 30 that Iran will not give up its nuclear weapons program in a written statement published by state media, alongside threats to the U.S. “We and our neighbors across the waters of the Persian Gulf and the [Gulf] of Oman share a common destiny,” he said. “Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice have no place in it – except at the bottom of its waters.” The unseen leader has only made public comments through state media.
U.S. forces have degraded Iran’s defense industrial base and killed thousands of Iranian troops since the conflict began. Trump shared multiple Truth Social posts on Saturday afternoon mocking the status of Iran’s military, including an image of drones “dropping like butterflies” and Iranian ships at the bottom of the sea.
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The announcement came the same day that it was reported Israel had built a military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air force, according to the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Khamenei is still shaping war strategy “in a critical role,” according to CNN.
