While the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei continues, a new report has claimed that the 56-year-old had to be “pulled from the rubble” of a hospital in Tehran following a joint strike by the United States (US) and Israel.
The report by New York Post cited an Iranian cleric and said Mojtaba was taken to a hospital after the US and Israel struck a compound in Tehran to neutralise his father and predecessor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, causing the beginning of the conflict in Middle East.ย
However, the US and Israel targeted three different medical compounds, including the one in which Mojtaba was hospitalised, “at some time in the days that followed”.ย
“Even after he had been wounded and taken to the hospital, three hospitals in Tehran were bombed,” Mohsen Heydari, a member of Iranโs Assembly of Experts, was quoted as saying by theย New York Post. “Mojtaba Khamenei was in the third hospital and was pulled from the rubble.”
Mojtaba received overwhelming support to become Iran’s Supreme Leader
The New York Post report stated that the US and Israel wanted to target the Assembly of Experts, which was responsible for choosing Iran’s next Supreme Leader after Ali Khamenei’s killing. They also struck the Qom Secretariat, killing eight people.
Back then, US President Donald Trump had also warned against appointing Mojtaba as the next Supreme Leader, “who was reportedly even more of a hardliner than his father”, the New York Post reported. Despite this, Khamenei received 50 of 59 votes during a meeting of the Assembly of Experts.
Meanwhile, eight members voted for Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, while one of them member had abstained.
“Given the enemyโs position, we will choose and elect no one as leader and supreme guide of the Islamic Republic except Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei,” Heidari, who was the first person to suggest Mojtaba’s name during a session, said. “We obtained information that Mojtaba Khamenei was healthy and able to lead, and we determined that he met the requirements of religious qualification, justice and competence to manage the country.”
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