US President Donald Trump was briefed recently on American intelligence showing that Iran’s late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was wary about his son Mojtaba Khamenei replacing him as ruler in the event of his death, according to a Sunday report.

Sources familiar with the matter told CBS News that the elder Khamenei’s fears stemmed from the perception that Mojtaba, who was recently named as his father’s successor, was “not very bright, and was viewed as unqualified to be leader,” as well as from an awareness that Mojtaba had “issues in his personal life.”

The report came as the newly elected 56-year-old supreme leader has remained conspicuously absent from the public eye in the week since he was elected, fueling rumors of injury or death, or that he has fled Iran.

The only public comments attributed to him since he was elected on March 8 were delivered in the form of a statement read out by a television presenter on Thursday.

The sources cited by CBS were said to include people within the Trump administration, the US intelligence community, and figures close to the president. The outlet said both Trump and Vice President JD Vance had been briefed on the intelligence information.

In a possible reference to the intelligence he was allegedly briefed on, Trump told Fox News in an interview on Friday night that Khamenei was “not somebody that the father even wanted.”

According to CBS, Trump has told people close to him that........

© The Times of Israel