Iran’s new supreme leader delivers worrying threat in first statement

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has delivered what is believed to be his first public statement since taking over after his father’s death – and it contained a worrying threat.

The message was broadcast on Iranian state television on Thursday, with a news anchor reading the new Iranian supreme leader’s statement while a still image of him appeared on screen. No explanation was given as to why Khamenei himself did not deliver the statement.

Khamenei has not been seen publicly since being named successor to his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli strike shortly after the war began. An Iranian source told The Sun earlier this week that Khamenei had been severely injured in the attacks and was receiving care at Sina University Hospital in Tehran while in a coma.

“One or two of his legs have been cut off. His liver or stomach has also ruptured. He is apparently in a coma as well,” the source alleged, according to The Sun.

Iran’s new supreme leader

Other Iranian sources rejected those claims. According to those reports, he only sustained minor injuries while sheltering inside a protected location.

In the televised statement, Khamenei addressed the ongoing conflict and promised retaliation.