By Jaime León
Tehran, (EFE).- Mojtaba Khamenei was elected Iran’s Supreme Leader a week ago, and so far, he has only been seen in posters and graffiti on the country’s streets, amidst speculation about whether he was injured in the war.
There is no trace of the cleric who will decide the destiny of the Islamic Republic and perhaps that of the Middle East in the coming years.
In a country that continues to be bombed daily by the United States and Israel, no video or audio has been released of him.
In fact, his first message to the nation was read on Thursday by a state television presenter while an image of the Iranian flag and a photograph of the new leader were broadcast.
In contrast to his physical absence, enormous posters of his portrait, as well as portraits of him alongside his assassinated father, Ali Khamenei, and the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ruhollah Khomeini, have filled the streets of Tehran.
In other posters, his father and predecessor in the position is shown passing the flag of Iran to him, a symbolic message of continuity.
His portraits also abound in the recent demonstrations in favor of the Islamic Republic and at the funerals of those killed in the conflict.
His public absence has fueled speculation about whether he was injured in the US and Israeli attack that killed his father, wife, and son on Feb. 28, the first day of the war.
The Iranian government has denied that the new leader is injured. On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated that the leader “has no problem.” However, at the same time, state television referred to the leader as a “wounded war veteran.”
The US insists that he is “injured” and probably “disfigured,” according to the country’s Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.
“I don’t know if he’s even alive. So far, nobody’s been able to show him,” said US President Donald Trump on Saturday.
The president insisted that he had heard that Khamenei “is not alive,” but then stated that “if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that’s surrender.”
Speculation about his health
His public absence and the resulting speculation about his health have fueled uncertainty in the Islamic Republic, where supporters of the Iranian theocracy justify this lack of appearances.
“He hasn’t appeared in public because they want to protect him from the threats of the United States and Israel,” Hosein, a shoemaker in northern Tehran, told EFE as he repaired bags.
Hosein believes that Khamenei was indeed injured in the attacks against the Supreme Leader’s office on the first day of a war that is now in its 17th day and with a death toll exceeding a thousand.
“But it’s nothing serious, and he will continue his work with strength,” Hosein maintains.
He also believes that he will be a good leader because “he has been by his father’s side for many years and has learned” a lot from him, but he will change things in the country because he is younger.
“Many say he could be the Mohammad bin Salman (Saudi Crown Prince) of Iran, and I agree with that. Since he is younger, he can better understand the generations demanding more freedoms,” he argues.
For his part, Mohamad, a worker at a cleaning products factory, told EFE that Mojtaba Khamenei “will appear at the right moment to address the nation.”
He believes that he was injured, “because they attacked many places and several of his relatives have died, but it must not be serious.”
And, like Hosein, he maintains that he will follow his father’s path, but perhaps with a more modern touch because he is of another generation. “The difference between the two Supreme Leaders is like the one between us and our parents,” he comments.
Iranians who demand political change and the dismantling of the Islamic Republic are precisely concerned about this possibility: that Mojtaba Khamenei might emulate his father, who ruled the country for 36 years with an “iron fist,” a policy characterized by absolute political control, severe repression of dissent, and minimal tolerance for opposition.
An anonymous Tehran resident told EFE that he thinks that “he is going to continue with the iron fist (of his father) because now there are more opponents and people who have distanced themselves from the system, and he wants to control it by force” EFE
ash-jlr/dmv
