Mojtaba Khamenei’s First Public Images Set for Release Amid Health Speculation

Mojtaba Khamenei’s first public images set for release Images of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei appearing in public are set to be released for the first time since his appointment in March, according to Iran’s state-run Mizan news agency. Images of Khamenei “among the people and out in streets, as well in meetings with the commanders of armed forces” will be released in the coming days, Iran’s state-run Mizan news agency reported, citing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official Qasem Qoraishi. There has been widespread speculation for months about the health of Iran’s top political and religious authority. Over the weekend, Iranian media shared an undated video of Khamenei, the first footage of him since he was appointed following the assassination of his father, Ali Khamenei, at the start of the war. The video showed Khamenei delivering a religious lesson to a group of people and appeared to have been recorded before the war. The post did not provide any details about when the footage was filmed. Questions have been raised over the supreme leader’s health and whether he was injured in US-Israeli airstrikes earlier this year. Sources who spoke to CNN around the time of Mojtaba Khamenei’s election said he had suffered a fractured foot and minor lacerations to his face. However, no visible signs of injury can be seen in the undated video released on Saturday. The development comes amid reports that Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian recently met Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since assuming the post at the start of the Middle East war, Khamenei’s office said on Sunday. Pezeshkian, who took office in July 2024, had said in early May that he met Khamenei, but did not specify when the meeting took place. The supreme leader’s office did not issue a statement about the meeting at the time. Iran had been negotiating with Washington over ending the war launched by the US and Israel in February, but a preliminary agreement collapsed. Iran’s top diplomat has since said that talks have been reduced to exchanging messages through mediators.