By Parisa Hafezi and Angus McDowall
DUBAI, April 11 (Reuters) – Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still recovering from serious injuries to his face and legs in the airstrike that killed his father at the start of the war, three people close to him told Reuters.
All three sources said Khamenei’s face was disfigured in the attack on the supreme leader’s residence in central Tehran and that he was seriously injured in one or both legs.
The 56-year-old is still recovering from his injuries and remains mentally sharp, according to people who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. He is participating in meetings with senior officials via audio conference and is involved in decision-making on major issues including war and negotiations https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-iran-ceasefire-what-we-know-2026-04-08/ with Washington, two of the people said.
The question of whether Khamenei’s health allows him to run state affairs comes at Iran’s most dangerous moment in decades, as high-level peace talks with the United States open in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday.
Accounts from people close to Khamenei’s inner circle provide the most detailed description of the leader’s condition in weeks. Reuters could not independently verify their description.
Khamenei’s whereabouts, condition and ability to rule largely remain a mystery to the public, with no photos, videos or audio recordings of him released since the airstrike and his appointment as his father’s replacement on March 8.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to Reuters’ questions about the extent of Khamenei’s injuries or why he has not yet appeared in any images or recordings.
Khamenei was wounded on February 28, the first day of the war launched by the US and Israel, in the strike that killed his father and predecessor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had ruled since 1989. Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife, brother-in-law and sister-in-law were among other members of his family killed in the strike.
Iran has not made any official statement about the extent of Khamenei’s injuries. However, an announcer on state television described him as “janbaz”, a term used to refer to those seriously injured in war, after he was appointed supreme leader.
Reports of Khamenei’s injuries are tallied by the statement https://www.reuters.com/world/irans-new-supreme-leader-wounded-likely-disfigured-hegseth-says-2026-03-13/ by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on March 13 when he said that Khamenei was “injured and possibly disfigured”.
A source familiar with US intelligence assessments told Reuters that Khamenei is believed to have lost a leg.
The CIA declined to comment on Khamenei’s condition. The Israeli prime minister’s office did not respond to questions.
Regardless of the severity of the wound, the new and inexperienced leader is unlikely to command the sweeping power held by his father, said Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. Although he is seen as representing continuity, it may take years for him to build up the same level of automatic power, Vatanka added.
“Mojtaba will be a collective voice but it will not be a decisive voice,” he said. “He needs to prove himself as a credible, strong and dominant voice. The entire regime has to make a decision about where they go.”
One of the people close to Khamenei said images of the supreme leader could be published within a month or two and he could even appear in public after that, although all three sources stressed that he would only appear when his health and security situation allowed.
‘WE DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HIS WORLD’
In Iran’s theocratic system of governance, ultimate power is meant to be wielded by the supreme leader, a revered Shi’ite Muslim cleric appointed by a council of 88 ayatollahs. The leader oversees the elected president while directly commanding parallel organizations that include the Revolutionary Guard, a powerful political and military force.
Iran’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, enjoyed unquestioned authority as the charismatic leader of the revolution and the most learned cleric of his time.
His successor, Ali Khamenei, is a less respected cleric who once served as president of Iran. He spent decades consolidating his power after his appointment in 1989, partly through promoting the power of the Revolutionary Guard.
Senior Iranian sources previously told Reuters that his son Mojtaba does not wield absolute power in the same way. The Revolutionary Guards, who helped propel him to the top after his father’s assassination, have emerged as the dominant voice https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/irans-revolutionary-guards-take-wartime-lead-ensuring-harder-line-sources-say-2026-03-04/ on strategic decisions during the war. Iran’s delegation to the United Nations did not respond to questions about the Guard’s powers and the new supreme leader.
An influential figure in his father’s office, Khamenei previously spent years lL1N3ZW031 involved in the exercise of power at the highest levels of the Islamic Republic, officials and insiders said, building relationships with senior Guard figures.
While many think he is likely to continue his father’s hard line because of his connections to the Guard, we don’t know much about his worldview, said Vatanka at the Middle East Institute.
Khamenei’s first contact with the Iranians as supreme leader came on March 12, in a written statement read by a TV host that the Strait of Hormuz should remain closed and warned countries in the region to close US bases.
Since then, his office has released several of his other brief written statements, including on March 20 when he welcomed the Persian new year, which he named “the year of resistance.” Public policy statements on Iran’s war stance, diplomatic approach, neighboring countries, ceasefire negotiations, and domestic unrest, have been made by other senior officials.
‘WHERE IS MOJTABA?’ MORE MEMES CIRCULATED ONLINE
Khamenei’s absence is widely discussed on Iranian social media and in messaging app groups, when the country’s patchy internet allows, with conspiracy theories spreading about his status and who is running the country.
A popular meme circulating online is an image of an empty chair under a spotlight with the slogan “Where is Mojtaba?”
However, some government supporters, including a senior member of the Basij militia, a volunteer paramilitary group run by the Revolutionary Guard, said it was important for Khamenei to remain silent, given the threat from a wave of US and Israeli airstrikes that have wiped out much of the country’s leadership.
A lower ranking Basij member agreed.
“Why did he have to appear in public? To become a target for these criminals?” Mohammad Hosseini, from Qom city, said in a text message.
(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi; Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay in Washington and Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Pravin Char)