United States President Donald Trump has said he believes Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is still alive but may have been seriously injured.
Mojtaba Khamenei assumed the position after his father, Ali Khamenei, was reportedly killed on the first day of the conflict involving the United States and Israel against Iran.
Speaking during an interview on the Fox News programme The Brian Kilmeade Show, Trump suggested the new Iranian leader may have survived but was in a weakened state.
“I think he probably is alive. I think he is damaged, but I think he’s probably alive in some form,” Trump said during the interview, which was published by Fox News late Thursday.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly since his selection by a clerical assembly on Sunday. His first public remarks were instead delivered through a television presenter on Thursday.
In the statement, he pledged that Iran would keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed and warned neighbouring countries hosting U.S. military bases that they could face retaliation if those facilities remained operational.
The conflict began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Tehran has since responded with missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and Gulf countries that host American military installations.
As the war approaches the two-week mark, the fighting has reportedly claimed thousands of lives and unsettled global financial markets, while leaders in Iran, Israel and the United States continue to signal their determination to press on with the conflict.
