NEW YORK, March 31. /TASS/. The United States believes that Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but seriously wounded, US President Donald Trump said in an interview with the New York Post.
"Nobody has heard from him. He is very seriously injured," Trump said. Asked whether Washington believes Khamenei is alive, Trump added, "We do not know. We think probably yes, but in extraordinarily bad shape."
On March 16, Trump, without specifying sources, did not rule out that Mojtaba Khamenei may have lost a leg and sustained other serious injuries as a result of US and Israeli strikes.
Prior to that, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic had been wounded but was feeling well. On March 25, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told India Today TV that Mojtaba Khamenei was "fine" and that the Iranian state system was working efficiently.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran, striking major cities, including Tehran. The White House justified the attack by citing missile and nuclear threats allegedly emanating from the Islamic Republic.
As a result of the strikes on Iran, its supreme leader Ali Khamenei and several other key figures of the country’s leadership were killed. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it carried out a large-scale retaliatory operation targeting Israel. US facilities in Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Syria were also hit.