Iran leader Mojtaba Khamenei has ‘severe and disfiguring wounds’ | World | News

Iran’s new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is suffering from “severe and disfiguring wounds”, it has been reported. Three people close to his inner circle have told the Reuters news agency that Mojtaba Khamenei is still recovering from severe facial and leg injuries sustained in the airstrike which killed his father and Iran‘s former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

All three sources told the agency Khamenei’s face was disfigured in the attack on the supreme leader’s compound in Tehran. They also said he suffered a significant injury to either one or both of his legs. He remains sharp mentally, according to Reuters. Khamenei, 56, has not appeared on TV, in photos or on the radio since the airstrike on February 28, in which his wife and other family members were also killed.

A source said to be familiar with US intelligence told Reuters Khamenei was ​believed to have lost a leg.

The reported accounts of Khamenei’s condition, which have not been independently verified by the Express, come at a crucial time for the US and Iran as both sides hold talks in Pakistan.

A US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance and an Iranian delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf met separately with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday (April 11), according to Sharif’s office and Iranian media.

No direct US-Iran talks in Islamabad had been announced as of this lunchtime. Meanwhile, Israel pressed ahead with strikes in Lebanon even as Iran said it would take part in talks on condition there was a pause to fighting there.

The Lebanese state-run news agency reported Israeli strikes on Saturday killed at least three people.

The war has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 1,953 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states.

It has largely cut off the Persian Gulf from the global economy, sending energy prices soaring and damaging infrastructure in half a dozen countries in the Middle East.

In Tehran, Iranians said they were sceptical yet hopeful about the talks after weeks of airstrikes had battered their country.

Shahab Banitaba questioned whether the United States could be trusted to uphold any agreement. He said: “If we get concrete and final results, there is still a chance that the deal falls through.”

US President Donald Trump posted repeatedly on social media leading up to the talks, claiming Iranian officials “have no cards” to negotiate with.

He accused them of using the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global energy supplies, for extortion, adding: “The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!”

Mr Vance said on Friday the US was optimistic about the talks, but warned: “If they’re going to try and play us, then they’re going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Tehran was entering negotiations with “deep distrust” stemming from past strikes on the Islamic Republic during previous rounds of talks.

Mr Araghchi, who is part of Iran’s delegation in Pakistan, said on Saturday that his country was prepared to retaliate if it was attacked again.