Iran is set to organise a memorial ceremony for slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei next week, days after he laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad, fueling speculations that Mojtaba Khamenei might make his first public appearance then.
As per media reports, the memorial ceremony will be held on Tuesday from 5 pm to 7 pm local time in the capital city of Tehran. Though there is no official clarification on whether 56-year-old Mojtaba will attend it or not, there is a strong buzz that the current supreme leader will likely make a public appearance on that day.
Mojtaba was made Iran’s Supreme Leader after Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint strike by the United States (US) and Israel on February 28; however, he has not appeared before the public even once since then, with people raising questions if he is alright or not.
President Donald Trump had earlier even raised questions about Mojtaba’s health and wondered if he is completely fine to lead the Islamic Republic. However, Iranian authorities have maintained that Mojtaba is completely healthy and taking all the decisions.
Mojataba’s new image published by IRGC
On Saturday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Saturday also published an image of Mojtaba and said he was in “complete health”. According to IRGC, the image was published by the official website of the Supreme Leader’s office.
Meanwhile, Mojtaba has vowed to take revenge from the US for his father’s killing and in a written message released on Saturday, he said the Islamic Republic has prepared a list of individuals to be targeted. His warning came hours after Trump said the US will “completely decimate” Iran if it makes any attempt to assassinate him.
But in response to Trump’s threat, Mojtaba said that a retaliation is “a national demand” and it will “most certainly be carried out”.ย
“Vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out,” Mojtaba’s statement read. “This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass.”
ALSO READ – Why US does not want to involve Israel in its strikes on Iran as tensions escalate again in Mideast