WASHINGTON — Iran Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei hasn’t released an audio or video message since assuming power because his face was badly burned in Israeli airstrikes on Feb, 28, according to a report — as President Trump says peace talks are inhibited by a lack of clear leadership in Tehran.
Khamenei, 56, “does not want to appear vulnerable or sound weak,” four Iranian officials told the New York Times, adding that one of the ayatollah’s legs has been “operated on three times, and he is awaiting a prosthetic,” while he also has had surgery on one of his hands.
“His face and lips have been burned severely, making it difficult for him to speak [and] he will need plastic surgery,” the Times reported.
“Senior government officials do not visit him, fearing that Israel may trace them to him and kill him,” added the outlet, which said most decision-making is being delegated to Tehran’s generals rather than civilian political leaders.
“Messages to him are handwritten, sealed in envelopes and relayed via a human chain from one trusted courier to the next, who travel on highways and back roads, in cars and on motorcycles until they reach his hide-out. His guidance on issues snakes back the same way.”
Although the report describes Khamenei as difficult to reach, it also cites the Iranian officials as saying the country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and health minister, Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi, “have both been involved in his care.”
The report supports Trump administration officials’ contention that peace talks are inhibited by slow communication and uncertainty about whether foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf are able to speak for their nation.
Trump on Tuesday extended a two-week cease-fire indefinitely as the US awaited a response to the latest American offer, which prioritizes an end to nuclear enrichment and the relinquishment of about 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium.
“There’s obviously a lot of internal division,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday.
“This is a battle between the pragmatists and the hardliners in Iran right now, and the president wants a unified response. And so, as we await that response, there’s a cease-fire.”
The Times reported Thursday that Khamenei has delegated significant authority to the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“It was the Guards who came up with the strategy for Iran’s attacks on Israel and the Persian Gulf states, along with the closing of the strait to maritime traffic,” it said. “They were the ones who agreed to a temporary cease-fire with the United States and approved back-channel diplomacy and direct negotiations with the United States.
“They tapped Mr. Ghalibaf from among their own ranks to lead the talks with Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad.”
