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By Peter Aitken
Politics Weekend Editor
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reportedly survived the joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes that killed his father by mere minutes because he happened to walk outside to check something in his garden.
The report emerges from The Telegraph, which obtained leaked audio of an address delivered by Mazaher Hosseini, head of protocol for the late Khamenei's office, to senior clerics and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders. The outlet reports that the recording has been independently verified.
Why It Matters
Khamenei has not publicly appeared since elected by an interim council to replace his father, issuing only a single written statement in the eight days he has served as supreme leader. U.S. officials have questioned if he even survived the bombing. "I don’t know if he’s even alive. So far, nobody’s been able to show him. I’m hearing he’s not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that’s surrender."
Read More on World
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday said that the new supreme leader was "wounded and likely disfigured," but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told MS Now on Saturday that there is no problem with Khamenei.
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What To Know
Hosseini in the recording told the gathered leaders that Mojtaba Khamenei went out into his garden to "do something" around 9:30 a.m. February 28, and after he had gone outside, the ballistic missiles intended to take him out simultaneously with his father struck his home. The strike killed his wife and son instantly, while Khamenei merely suffered an injury to his leg.
“God’s will was that Mojtaba had to go out to the yard to do something and then return," Hosseini said in the recording, as translated by The Telegraph. “He was outside and was heading upstairs when they struck the building with a missile. His wife, Ms Haddad, was martyred instantly.”
Khamenei's home is within the same "office complex" that served as his father's home and headquarters. The strike hit his father's home and his own, as well as the apartment of his brother-in-law, who was decapitated, according to the recording.
An Iranian official who spoke to The Telegraph added that "everyone knew that the supreme leader did not want Mojtaba to become the leader," claiming that Khamenei was selected "against the will of the supreme leader and maybe against his own will too. We still have not heard anything from him.”
Hosseini in the recording also discusses other figures killed in the strikes, including military commander Mohammad Shirazi, who was seen as a potential successor to the supreme leader due to his role as a link between the former leader and the country's broader military command.
“The enemy knew that, while hitting the supreme leader, hit him too because they knew he would replace those who had been killed, and when new [commanders] were introduced, they could get a chance to [influence] the rioters and infiltrators and do something," Hosseini said. “He was blown to pieces – they could find nothing from him, and at the end they found a few kilos of flesh and identified it as his body.”
Khamenei's Reservations Over Son as Successor
The recording surfaces as intelligence reports indicate that Khamenei's father had concerns over his viability as successor. CBS News, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, reported that the former supreme leader believed his son was perceived as not very bright and unqualified to lead the country.
Khamenei also allegedly had "issues" in his personal life that would have made him unfit to succeed as supreme leader.
The reports were presented to Trump and a small circle of advisers, and the president made reference to them last week when discussing the state of Iranian leadership, saying during a Fox News interview: "Their leadership is gone. Their second leadership is gone. Now their third leadership is in trouble, and this is not somebody that the father even wanted."
Trump described Khamenei as a "lightweight" and "unacceptable" to lead Iran. He previously said that he should be involved in selecting Iran's next leader.
Update 3/16/25, 4 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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