Is Mojtaba Khamenei Dead? Donald Trump Says 'I Don't Know If He's Alive' as Iran Leader Vanishes

Iran's foreign minister has pushed back against Donald Trump's public suggestion that Mojtaba Khamenei, the country's new Supreme Leader, may already be dead, asserting that he is in 'complete health' and 'fully managing the situation,' even though the cleric has not been seen publicly since his appointment following the death of his father in a US‑Israeli strike.

The news came after Mojtaba Khamenei, aged 56, was formally named Iran's third Supreme Leader by the Assembly of Experts on March 8, following the killing of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli airstrikes on Feb. 28. Since taking power, Mojtaba Khamenei has made no public appearance whatsoever — no television address, no video message, no photograph. His absence has left governments, analysts and the wider public struggling to assess whether the man now nominally leading one of the world's most volatile nations is actually capable of doing so.

The Question Nobody in Tehran Will Answer

Trump, who has rarely applied restraint when discussing Iran, was blunt in recent days. 'I don't know if he's even alive,' the US president said. '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.'​

Those remarks marked a firmer stance than taken just 48 hours earlier. In a Fox News Radio interview with Brian Kilmeade, taped on Thursday and aired on Friday, Trump said he believed Mojtaba was 'probably alive in some form' but 'damaged.' The shift in his language, from 'damaged-but-alive' to openly doubting his existence, reflected the growing uncertainty surrounding Tehran's new figurehead.

Iran's official position remains firm. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that 'the Leader of the Revolution is in complete health and is fully managing the situation.' That assertion is, however, almost impossible to verify independently. When Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement last Thursday since assuming power, it was delivered by a state television news anchor rather than by him. He did not appear on camera, no audio recording was broadcast, and his location was not disclosed.

What Reports Say About Mojtaba Khamenei's Injuries

That peculiar mode of communication has done nothing to settle the speculation. Iranian ambassador Alireza Salarian acknowledged earlier this week that Mojtaba had been wounded, saying he had 'heard that he was injured in his legs and hand and arm' and believed him to be in hospital. More severe accounts, reported by i24 News and The Sun, suggest he may have lost one or both legs and suffered serious damage to his liver or stomach in the same strikes that killed his wife, one of his sisters, his niece and his father.

The Guardian reported that at least a fractured leg and some facial trauma appear confirmed, though the full picture is being carefully managed. A large section of Sina University Hospital in Tehran has reportedly been sealed off and placed under security guard, with Iran's health minister, Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, a trauma surgeon, said to be personally overseeing treatment. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also reported to have visited the hospital and been briefed on Khamenei's condition.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth made his position clear on Friday. 'Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why,' he said. 'His father: dead; he's scared, he's injured, he's on the run, and he lacks legitimacy.' Iranian officials have not issued a direct response to those specific comments.​

If Mojtaba Khamenei is alive and receiving treatment, his absence from public view carries a clear rationale. Israel has indicated an intention to target him, making any confirmed location a serious and immediate vulnerability. Whatever his condition, the statement released in his name last Thursday showed no weakness, pledging revenge not only for his father's death but for every Iranian life lost in the conflict.

'I assure everyone that we will not refrain from avenging the blood of your martyrs,' the statement said. 'The retaliation we have in mind is not limited only to the martyrdom of the great leader of the Revolution; rather, every member of the nation who is martyred by the enemy constitutes a separate case in the file of revenge.'