Is Mojtaba Khamenei Dead?

Last Tuesday, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei hosted a wake for his father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Among the thousands who thronged Tehran’s biggest mosque were the country’s most prominent political figures and several of the elder Khamenei’s sons.

One person was notably absent: Mojtaba, the event’s official host.

Almost six months since his anointment, Iran’s supreme leader has been entirely obscured from the public eye.

Not a single contemporaneous picture, video, or audio recording of him has been released.

Many of the country’s top political leaders admit that they haven’t seen him—among them Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister and a member of the National Security Council.

IranWire , a London-based opposition outlet, reports that not a single cabinet member has met with Mojtaba since he became supreme leader.

Not even Mojtaba’s close friends and relatives have seen him.

Fewer than five people have met with Mojtaba since his ascent to power, Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaght, a former official and a relative of Mojataba’s told me, “due to security precautions.” The rationale is not implausible.

Mojtaba would be a likely target for an Israeli or U.S. air strike, such as the one that killed his father.

Direct communication from him could supply Iran’s enemies with clues to his whereabouts.

He is also said to have sustained injuries in the February strike on his family that have made public speeches and appearances difficult. [ Graeme Wood: ‘The most dangerous man in the world’ ] But the totality of Mojtaba’s invisibility and a recent decline in statements from his office have set Tehran abuzz with new rumors of his death.

Some sources inside and close to the government speculated to me that Mojtaba recently died from the injuries that he had sustained in February.

And irrespective of his actual status, the uncertainty might have major implications for Iran.