Iran’s disfigured supreme leader still invisible six months into existential war

Six months after the airstrikes that began the war and propelled a badly wounded Mojtaba Khamenei into the role of Iran’s supreme leader, he remains entirely unseen and unheard by Iranians — a vacuum at the heart of his country’s leadership.

Questions over his condition and role are growing increasingly fraught, with Iran facing critical decisions over a war that has set the Middle East aflame while trashing the country’s already fragile economy.

Iranian officials and other senior sources in the country say Khamenei remains in control, ruling from the shadows for security reasons as he recovers from disfiguring wounds while delegating broad daily authority to a coterie of top figures.

But with no photograph, video or audio message released since his appointment a week into the war, Iranians are ever more sceptical about his position in an Islamic Republic in which the leader’s voice is meant to be absolute.

“The question is no longer whether Mojtaba is alive, but whether Iran still has a functioning supreme leader,” said Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute in Washington.

Khamenei’s only messages to the Iranian people have come via a handful of written statements read aloud by news broadcasters, and he was even missing from the extravagant week of funeral rites for his father last month.

How do we know that Mojtaba has not been killed? It is not logical that there is not a single sign proving he is alive, let alone evidence that he is involved in decision-making

Top officials and other insiders attribute Khamenei’s absence to assassination fears and say he holds frequent meetings with top figures, receives all major reports and takes the final decisions on every important issue.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said on August 10 he had held a seven-hour meeting with Khamenei. But even among the Islamic Republic’s most hardline supporters, doubts are creeping in.

“We need to hear our leader’s voice or see any sign that he is there on top and leading the country to give us more confidence,” said a member of the Basij volunteer militia in Qom, the seminary city at the heart of Iran’s theocratic state.

While the Basij member, who requested anonymity to discuss such a sensitive subject, said he believed Khamenei was indeed still making key decisions, the lack of even a photograph was damaging morale and not in Iran’s interest.

Among Iranians who oppose the ruling hierarchy or want broad reforms, the message is blunter. “How do we know that Mojtaba has not been killed?” said Shahrokh, a pro-reform businessman in Tehran who also requested anonymity.

“It is not logical that there is not a single sign proving he is alive, let alone evidence that he is involved in decision-making.”

Iran has weathered six months of war with its most powerful enemies to emerge battered but still standing. Its political system has held. Its military retains the ability to choke off global energy supplies and strike US Gulf allies.