Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public or released an audio or video message since assuming power following his father’s death in a U.S. Airstrike on February 28, 2026, according to multiple reports.
Senior Iranian officials told The New York Times that Khamenei, 56, sustained severe injuries during the attack, including extensive burns to his face and lips that have made speaking difficult and necessitated eventual plastic surgery. One of his legs has undergone three operations and he is awaiting a prosthetic, while surgery on one hand has not restored function.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, and Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi have been involved in his medical care. Due to security concerns, access to Khamenei is highly restricted, with most communication occurring through handwritten notes passed via trusted couriers on highways and back roads.
The prolonged absence of the supreme leader from public view has raised questions about leadership clarity in Tehran, with U.S. Officials noting it complicates peace talks. Decision-making has increasingly been delegated to commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps rather than civilian officials.
