President Donald Trump said he believes Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father — the former supreme leader — was killed on the first day of the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran, is alive but “damaged.”
Khamenei has not been seen publicly since his selection Sunday by a clerical assembly, and his first comments were read out by a television presenter Thursday.
An Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that the newly appointed supreme leader was lightly injured but continuing to operate after state television described him as war-wounded.
“I think he probably is (alive). I think he is damaged, but I think he’s probably alive in some form,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Brian Kilmeade Show.” His remarks were published by Fox News late Thursday.
In his first comments, Khamenei vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and called on neighboring countries to shut U.S. bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting them.
The United States and Israel began attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Iran has responded with strikes on Israel and Gulf countries hosting U.S. bases.
As the war approached the two-week mark — killing thousands of people and shaking financial markets — the leaders of Iran, Israel and the United States have all voiced defiance and vowed to continue fighting.