Tehran: Iran has released a letter said to be handwritten by its new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, after US President Donald Trump publicly questioned whether he is alive.
The development comes as the war being waged by the US and Israel against Iran has crossed one month. Iranian media reports said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the conflict, after which his son Mojtaba took charge as the new Supreme Leader.
At the same time, there were claims that Mojtaba Khamenei was seriously injured in the same air strike and was being treated at a secret location. In recent weeks, only statements—such as Persian New Year greetings and messages that Iran would not back down in the war—have been circulated in his name.
Against this backdrop, Trump said the US was holding talks with Iran but it was unclear whether they were with the new Supreme Leader, adding that his survival could not be confirmed. Soon after, the letter attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei surfaced.
In the letter, he thanked the Iraqi government and people for supporting Iran in the war against the US and Israel, and praised Iraq’s Shia religious leader Ayatollah Ali Sistani for taking a firm stand against what he described as aggression on Iran. Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public so far, with his messages released only as statements or audio.
