Iran Confirms New Supreme Leader 'In Full Health' Post-Strike

(MENAFN) Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has fully recovered from injuries sustained during a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran's leadership compound at the outset of the war, a senior Iranian official confirmed Saturday — marking the first official account detailing his condition since the assault.

Mazaher Hosseini, director general of protocol at the office of the supreme leader, told Iran's Fars News Agency that Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded during strikes on the compound on Feb. 28, at a time when he had not yet assumed the supreme leadership. Hosseini said he was personally present at the site during the attack and that several nearby locations were struck, including areas where senior officials — among them Ali Khamenei, the then-supreme leader and Mojtaba's father — were killed, Iranian media reported late Friday.

Hosseini noted that Mojtaba Khamenei was not in the lecture hall he typically used at the moment of impact — a site that was subsequently "flattened" in the bombardment. His residence was also targeted, Hosseini added, with his wife and several others killed in that strike. Khamenei was thrown to the ground by the blast wave while making his way toward the residence, sustaining injuries to his kneecap and lower back.

"The back injury has improved during this period, and the kneecap injury will soon heal as well. He is in full health," Hosseini said, according to media.

He also pushed back against circulating claims of facial injuries, stating there was only a "small crack behind the ear" that had already been treated. Hosseini further alleged that Iran's adversaries were seeking recordings or other material related to Khamenei "to carry out action against him," and said the supreme leader would address the public at an "appropriate time."

Mojtaba Khamenei was elevated to the position of supreme leader on March 9 following the death of his father in the Feb. 28 strikes. He has since communicated exclusively through written statements.

Regional tensions escalated sharply after US and Israeli forces struck Iran on Feb. 28, setting off retaliatory attacks by Tehran and disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz — a critical artery for global energy shipments. A ceasefire brokered through Pakistani mediation took effect April 8, though an initial round of talks in Islamabad on April 11 failed to produce a durable settlement. Trump later extended the truce without a fixed deadline, and the US has enforced a naval blockade on Iranian maritime traffic in the waterway since April 13.

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