The Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed off, with European allies rebuffing US President Donald Trump's request for help to reopen the critical waterway, raising energy prices and fears of inflation. The senior official, who asked not to be named, said the supreme leader had said it was not 'the right time for peace until the United States and Israel are brought to their knees, accept defeat, and pay compensation'. Three sources told Reuters on March 14 that Trump's administration has rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war. Reports indicate that the 56-year-old supreme leader was flown to Moscow for treatment of 'serious' injuries following an airstrike. A source in Tehran said he had been in a coma in Sina University Hospital, and, due to his condition, did not know of the ongoing war, the death of his family members - including his wife and son - and of his own election as supreme leader. As more time passes without a public appearance, rumours have circulated that the hardline cleric has lost his leg or may even be dead.
Khamenei's silence offers a stark contrast to his father's fiery 'never surrender' video messages during the June 2025 twelve-day war. His first statement as leader was read out by a news anchor on state TV last week, during which he said that his government would 'not forgo avenging the blood' of citizens killed. He vowed that Tehran would keep the Strait of Hormuz closed to international shipping - cutting off the supply of a fifth of the world's oil - and added that Iran's retaliation so far represented only 'a limited portion' of what was to come. While he believes in maintaining a friendship with Iran's Gulf neighbours, he announced attacks on US bases in the region will continue. 'We are not an enemy of the countries around us, and we are only targeting the bases of those Americans,' he said. The Iranian leader hinted at Iran's proxies in the region supporting his fight against the US and Israel, claiming that armed groups in Iraq 'want to help' his nation, while those in Yemen 'will also do the job'.
He also spoke of the loss of many members of his family during the US-Israeli airstrike that killed his father: 'I lost my father, I lost my wife. My sister lost her child as well as the husband who has been martyred. 'But what it makes it easier for us to endure all these plights is to trust the grace of God and to know that patience is going to resolve it.' It is unclear whether Mojtaba was injured in the same airstrikes which killed the 86-year-old Ali Khamenei. The new dictator's injuries have required him to be flown to Russia for an operation 'personally offered by Putin', according to Kuwaiti news outlet Al-Jarida. The mission to sneak the ayatollah out of the country was intended to be top secret and involved him boarding a Russian military aircraft. He then headed to one of Putin's presidential palaces where he underwent 'successful' surgery. The report remains unconfirmed, but Al-Jarida claims it received its information from a 'high-ranking source close to the new Iranian Supreme Leader'. A separate source previously told The Sun through secret messages sent to an exiled dissident based in London that the heir is in 'very serious' condition and being trreated at Sina University Hospital in Mashhad. 'One or two of his legs have been cut off. His liver or stomach has also ruptured. He is apparently in a coma as well,' they added.
The source, who does not want to be named out of fear for his life , said the new supreme leader was under the care of Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, Iran's minister of health, and one of the country's top trauma surgeons. US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth said on Friday he believes Khamenei is wounded. 'We know the new so-called, not-so-supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured,' Hegseth told a press conference. US President Donald Trump further fanned the flames over the weekend, telling NBC News: 'I don't know if he's even alive. So far, nobody's been able to show him.' He said he had heard a 'rumour' of his death, adding: 'I'm hearing he's not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that's surrender... 'Some of them think he's alive but very badly wounded.' Meanwhile on Sunday, an Israeli security official told the Daily Mail bluntly: 'We know where he is.' The security official added: 'I recommend not following every report Iran puts out.'
On Tuesday, Israel claimed to have assassinated top Iranian official Ali Larijani in an airstrike overnight. Larijani, 67, the secretary of the regime's National Security Council, is the highest profile figure killed since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured) on the first day of the war. The IDF said it killed Larijani, Iran's 'stand-in leader', in strikes which also eliminated Basij paramilitary force commander Gholamreza Soleimani. Israel's defence minister Israel Katz said: 'Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated overnight and joined the head of the annihilation program, Khamenei, and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil, in the depths of hell.' Larijani last week warned Trump to 'take care not to be eliminated' before taunting the US President for his 'grave miscalculation'.
Marching through the streets of Tehran, in an attempted display of strength, the security chief dismissed the Israeli-US attacks on the capital as being 'out of desperation'. 'These attacks are out of fear, out of desperation. One who is strong wouldn't bomb demonstrations at all. It's clear that it has failed,' Larijani told state TV at the Quds Day march. Striking a defiant tone, he said US President 'doesn't understand that the Iranian people are a brave nation, a strong nation, a determined nation. The more he presses, the stronger the nation's determination will become'.
Marching through the streets of Tehran, in an attempted display of strength, the security chief dismissed the Israeli-US attacks on the capital as being 'out of desperation'. 'These attacks are out of fear, out of desperation. One who is strong wouldn't bomb demonstrations at all. It's clear that it has failed,' Larijani told state TV at the Quds Day march. Striking a defiant tone, he said US President 'doesn't understand that the Iranian people are a brave nation, a strong nation, a determined nation. The more he presses, the stronger the nation's determination will become'.
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