WASHINGTON, August 12. /TASS/. Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei avoids public appearances solely for security reasons, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, adviser to the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said.

"The strategy belongs to him. Our enemy is criminal and doesn't abide by any law," he said in an interview with PBS, responding to a question about why Khamenei doesn't appear in public. "Naturally, it is due to security. Certainly, there is no other reason." The adviser to the IRGC commander-in-chief, however, avoided answering the question of whether he had met with Khamenei in person.

Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public since the start of the US-Israeli military operation against Iran, which killed his father, the previous Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. As Tehran has repeatedly noted, Mojtaba Khamenei's health is not in danger.