New Delhi: Amid speculations about Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei’s whereabouts and health following the US-Israel’s joint attack on Tehran, US President Donald Trump suggested that he could be dead or in “very bad shape”.
Trump said the US-Israel joint attack has wiped out Iran’s top leadership and military power, and that the country doesn’t have a functioning supreme leader. He also claimed that the country’s highest authority has been effectively eliminated.
“No, their leaders are dead. Their supreme leader is no longer supreme. He is dead. The son is either dead or in very bad shape because nobody’s heard from him,” Trump said while addressing the Future Investment Initiative Priority Summit in Miami.
He claimed that the US’ military action has dismantles Iran’s military capabilities.”Iran’s navy is gone. It’s all sunk at the bottom of the gulf… Their air force is totally, completely dead… Their anti-aircraft and communications capabilities are totally dismantled and dead,” Trump said.
“We’re crushing Iran’s weapons stockpiles, destroying their missiles and drone factories at levels nobody ever thought were possible, and turning their defense industrial base into nothing,” he added.
On February 28, the US and Israel launched air strikes against Iran, killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Following this, Mojtaba was named as Iran’s new Supreme Leader. However, he has not made public appearance since the attack, fuelling speculation about his well being. According to US officials, Mojtaba suffered critical injuries during the attack.
Earlier, Trump said it was unclear if Mojtaba was alive. “We don’t know if he’s dead or not. I will say that nobody has seen him, which is unusual,” Trump had said at an event at the White House.