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Published : 26 May 2026, 11:56 AM
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei suffered only superficial injuries in US-Israeli strikes in late February, an Iranian health ministry official has said, Arab News reports.
Hossein Kermanpour, spokesperson for the ministry, said on Monday that Mojtaba arrived at a hospital around 1pm Tehran time on Feb 28 after the strikes and entered the operating room with several other wounded people.
Apart from injuries to the face, head and legs, which he said caused no major medical complications, “nothing major had happened”, Kermanpour told ILNA News Agency.
“From my perspective as a physician, these were not considered serious injuries and required no special procedures apart from one or two stitches,” he said.
The 56-year-old has not appeared publicly since he was named Iran’s supreme leader on Mar 8, leading to speculation over his health after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed in March that he was “believed to be alive, wounded, and disfigured”.
Mojtaba succeeded his father Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the Feb 28 strikes that triggered retaliatory Iranian attacks across the region.
Kermanpour also said Mojtaba continued to fast during Ramadan despite his injuries and did not break his fast until iftar, which he said reflected his good health.
According to the Saudi Arabian newspaper, Mojtaba was discharged from hospital around 2am on Mar 1, though no details were given about where he was taken afterwards.
On May 7, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he had met the supreme leader for a two-and-a-half-hour discussion.
Days later, Iranian state television reported that military Commander Ali Abdollahi also met Mojtaba and received fresh operational directives.
Meanwhile, Iran signalled that negotiations with the US over ending the West Asia conflict were still far from complete.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said progress had been made on many issues under discussion, but cautioned that no one could claim an agreement was close to being signed.
He also said Iran would continue managing maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz by charging service fees, arguing that Tehran was not seeking to impose tolls.
Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, said Iran would require hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild its damaged economy.
