Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has called on his country’s intelligence services to put “enemies at home and abroad” in their crosshairs.
The relevant statement, posted on the newly appointed Supreme Leader’s account on X, was made following the death of Ismail Hatib, Iran’s minister responsible for intelligence services, who was killed in a strike this week.
In Khamenei’s post, it is noted that “the officials and staff remaining in this sensitive ministry” must fill the void created by the minister’s death.
Speculation about Khamenei’s life
Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly, nor has he released any audio or video message since his appointment on March 8 as the country’s Supreme Leader, leading to speculation about his health, and even about whether he is still alive.
The second son of the Ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei, succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tehran on the first day of the American-Israeli attack, on February 28. Mojtaba Khamenei also lost his wife, his mother, and a son-in-law in the bombings.
According to the US government, Khamenei has been injured, though no further details have been made public.
