Ali Shamkhani, senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appeared in public for the first time on Saturday since surviving an Israeli airstrike that targeted his home in Tehran earlier this month.
Part of the interview with Ali Shamkhani
Initial reports following the Israeli attacks claimed Shamkhani had been killed, while others said he was seriously wounded. Last week, he confirmed he had survived. “It was my fate to live,” he said at the time.
On Saturday, Iranian media aired footage of the ruins of Shamkhani’s home. In a televised interview, he revealed he was trapped under the debris for three hours and is now recovering from internal injuries.
“My chest was crushed,” Shamkhani said, speaking through a breathing device used for lung rehabilitation. “I said the morning prayer beneath the rubble,” he added. “At first, I thought it was an earthquake. But when I heard the sound of a vehicle, I realized it wasn’t.”
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Shamkhani declined to say why he was targeted but added, “Israel knows why it attacked me—and so do I. But I can’t say.”
A high-ranking figure in Iran’s security establishment, Shamkhani previously served as Iran’s navy commander, defense minister and secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. He also led the Iranian military’s Center for Strategic Studies and was once considered a presidential contender.