A new statement was issued in the name of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Monday, amid persistent questions about his whereabouts and health, as he has still yet to make any public appearance since assuming the role.

The brief statement, carried by Iranian state media, simply said that all those previously appointed to government positions by his father, the late ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will remain in their posts and should “continue to carry on with their work.”

Khamenei also appointed the former chief of the Revolutionary Guards, General Mohsen Rezaei, as a military adviser, the Mehr news agency reported.

Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was chosen to replace his father, who was killed in the initial wave of US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran that started the war. Last week a statement was issued in his name, carried by state media, vowing to “avenge the blood” of Iranians killed in the strikes.

It marked the first public statement from the younger Khamenei since he became supreme leader days earlier. State TV offered no explanation for why those remarks were read out by a presenter rather than delivered in a video or audio address.

US President Donald Trump suggested Monday that it is unclear if the new Iranian leader is “dead or not.”

“We don’t know… if he’s dead or not,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“A lot of people are saying that he’s badly disfigured. They’re saying that he lost his leg — one leg — and he’s, you know, been hurt very badly. Other people are saying he’s dead. Nobody’s saying he’s 100 percent healthy. You know he hasn’t spoken,” he said.

“We don’t know who we’re dealing with” in Iran, Trump added. “We don’t know who their leader is.”

On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed that Khamenei “is in excellent health” and remains “in control of the situation, and present at his post.”

Two days earlier, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asserted that Khamenei is “wounded and likely disfigured.”

Iranian state media have admitted that Khamenei was wounded in the February 28 strike that killed his father, wife, son and brother-in-law, but the extent of his injuries has remained unclear as he has stayed behind closed doors.

Leaked audio obtained by The Telegraph and published on Monday asserted that Khamenei narrowly survived the airstrike after stepping outside his residence minutes before missiles hit the compound.

The recording purportedly features remarks by Mazaher Hosseini, head of protocol in the office of the late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, delivered to senior clerics and commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at a March 12 meeting in Tehran.

According to Hosseini, Mojtaba had stepped into the compound’s yard shortly before Israel struck the residence at 9:32 a.m. local time.

“God’s will was that Mojtaba had to go out to the yard to do something and then return,” Hosseini says in the recording, speaking in Persian. “He was outside and was heading upstairs when they struck the building with a missile.”

According to Hosseini, Mojtaba Khamenei sustained only “a minor injury to his leg” in the strike that killed many of his family members.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the Iran war right now? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:

Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock under difficult conditions to cover this conflict;

Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and emails; and

Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.

We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.

You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.

Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.

So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you'll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.

Thank you,David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel

1 First personGamblers trying to win a bet on Polymarket are vowing to kill me if I don’t rewrite an Iran missile story

2 ‘Learn your lesson’: Inscribed 2,100-year-old sling bullet found in the Galilee

3 Seizing Iran’s uranium could take ‘largest special forces operation in history’ – WSJ

4 Trump said briefed on US intel showing Ali Khamenei thought his son ‘not very bright,’ unfit to lead

5 Lauding Israeli help, Trump intensifies pressure on China, others to help secure Hormuz Strait

6 ToI podcastBret Stephens: America and Israel are engaged in a common fight for civilization

7 Iran FM claims Tehran never sought ceasefire or talks with US amid war

8 6 wounded after Hezbollah rocket impact sparks fire in northern Israel

2026 US-Israel war with Iran

© The Times of Israel